The New York affiliate of the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, is supporting Chick-fil-A against religious discrimination by the city of Buffalo.
NYCLU Assistant Director for Legislative Affairs Erika Lorshbough said the city was acting inappropriately in a statement to The Hill.
"Government actors cannot officially silence speech or take punitive actions based on a person's or private entity's political viewpoints," Lorschbough said.
"The First Amendment does not permit the NFTA to base its contracting decisions on the political views of a vendor," she added.
The controversy arose after Chick-fil-A was banned from building a restaurant at the Buffalo Airport by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority over their history of donating to conservative and Christian causes.
Chick-fil-A faulted coverage of the story in a statement to the Hill where they said the company's mission is to provide delicious food, and not to advocate for a political platform.
"Recent coverage about Chick-fil-A continues to drive an inaccurate narrative about our brand. We want to make it clear that our sole focus is on providing delicious food and welcoming everyone – not being a part of a national political conversation. We do not have a political or social agenda," the company said.
"More than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand," they added. "We embrace all people, regardless of religion, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity."
Chick-fil-A faced similar discrimination in the city of San Antonio, Texas, where the state's attorney general has announced that they will be investigating to see if the city acted inappropriately against the company's constitutional free speech rights.
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