RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And Chick-fil-A fast food restaurants became the focus a few weeks ago of protests and counter-protests, after the CEO of the restaurant chain said he opposed same-sex marriage. Now, after a change in policy the chain, a Chicago alderman says he will no longer stand in the way of Chick-fil-A opening in his neighborhood.
NPR's Cheryl Corley reports.
CHERYL CORLEY, BYLINE: There's just one Chick-fil-A restaurant in Chicago. The second will be located here, on Chicago's northwest side. After months of negotiating, Alderman Joe Moreno says he's fine with the company locating here.
ALDERMAN JOE MORENO: They had funded groups that were outspokenly, in my opinion, hateful, and one of their offers was, look, we're not going to give to these groups anymore.
CORLEY: The Alderman says Chick-fil-A also took a step forward when it said, in an internal company document, the company will treat every person with respect, regardless of their beliefs or sexual orientation.
Anthony Martinez the executive director of the Civil Rights Agenda, an LGBT advocacy group in Illinois, also calls that a good first step, but says...
ANTHONY MARTINEZ: We would still like to see them have an anti-discrimination policy in their company manual.
CORLEY: That would address what Martinez says has been a culture of discrimination at Chick-fil-A.
The restaurant chain declined to comment beyond offering a statement saying it planned to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.
Cheryl Corley, NPR News, Chicago. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
