My unwelcome feelings are making me feel unwelcome

Earlier I read about a discrimination complaint filed against Chick-fil-A in Illinois by a gay activist group.  Skeptical that the company would be so stupid as to deliberately discriminate against employees or customers, I was taken aback for a moment to read this characterization of Illinois law:

Anthony Martinez, executive director of TCRA, contends that Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s recent comments reiterating his opposition to same-sex marriage were more than just his own thoughts and that he was speaking on behalf of his company, stating the views as company policy.

“We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” Cathy said in the Baptist Press July 16. He said he was “guilty as charged” for supporting “the biblical definition of the family unit.”

His comments make LGBT people, a protected minority class, feel “unwelcome, objectionable or unacceptable” at Chick-fil-A restaurants, or “public accommodations” under Section 5-102(B) of the Illinois Human Rights Act, Martinez said.

Wow, if the law now prohibits comments that might make people feel “unwelcome, objectionable or unacceptable,” then freedom of speech has bitten the dust as far as businesses are concerned.

But before jumping to such a conclusion, I thought I should read what the actual law says. The phrase “unwelcome, objectionable, or unacceptable” is included in the phraseology of the anti-discrimination laws in multiple states, but there has to be an actual statement to the effect that a person or group of people are unwelcome. Here’s the Illinois law:

Sec. 5?102. Civil Rights Violations: Public Accommodations. It is a civil rights violation for any person on the basis of unlawful discrimination to:
(A) Enjoyment of Facilities, Goods, and Services. Deny or refuse to another the full and equal enjoyment of the facilities, goods, and services of any public place of accommodation;
(B) Written Communications. Directly or indirectly, as the operator of a place of public accommodation, publish, circulate, display or mail any written communication, except a private communication sent in response to a specific inquiry, which the operator knows is to the effect that any of the facilities of the place of public accommodation will be denied to any person or that any person is unwelcome, objectionable or unacceptable because of unlawful discrimination;

Voicing an opinion that some people shouldn’t be allowed to marry each other is nowhere near a statement to the effect that they are unwelcome. But the people who are making the complaint obviously think that an opinion against gay marriage might make some people feel unwelcome:

Individuals named in the complaint have been kept confidential, considering the continued media coverage of the Chick-fil-A fallout.

“The complainants are a same-gender family with a daughter,” said Martinez. “Chick-fil-A used to be one of their favorite places to eat until Mr. Cathy’s latest statements were reported so widely. Now, they feel completely unwelcome in the establishment.”

The complaint lists several claims of public accommodation discrimination.

“As a result of the foregoing published statements regarding Chick-fil-A’s corporate philosophy, culture and policies, as an unmarried homosexual in a “non-traditional” family unit, I know that my family and I are looked down upon, loathed, unwelcome, objectionable and unacceptable to Chick-fil-A,” stated the complainant in the filing.

So, the president of the company said he was against gay marriage.

So did the president of the United States. OK, I realize he has never owned or run a business, but so did the Pope (and the Catholic Church runs a lot of businesses).  So did countless other people. This is a political issue on which the country is divided 50/50, but which ranks low on the list of voter priorities.

I realize that a lot of people are made uncomfortable by opinions they disagree with, but Mr. Cathy never said gays were unwelcome, and his written corporate policy is to  “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect –regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.”

Being upset over the opinions of a company is of course a legitimate reason to not patronize the place. If you don’t like the leftie agenda of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream, or the Marxist philosophy of a successful Philadelphia restaurant, don’t go there. In fact, such policies might make you feel distinctly uncomfortable and unwelcome. The religious and political opinions of the owner of a halal restaurant might very well make Jews and Christians feel unwelcome. Would a vegan feel unwelcome at McDonalds?

Anyway, I’m glad that feeling unwelcome is not a legal standard, and I hope it never becomes one.

Otherwise, I’ll feel unwelcome almost everywhere, and I’ll have to sue the world.