By Richard Hack
READING, UK–On October 10th, American fast-foodery Chick-fil-A opened its first franchise in Great Britain, in the Oracle Shopping Center in Reading, a university town 20 minutes South of London. As soon as the project was announced, the local LGBTQ residents began protesting its arrival based on the corporation”s well-known reputation for donating to LGBTQ hate groups.
Just seven days after the opening, the owners of the Mall said the business would be closing at the end of its six-month lease “because it was the right thing to do.”
In an odd reaction, Chick-fil-A management reported that they “only ever intended to stay six-months” at the location, a strange response considering the amount of money spent on building out the space customized for the franchise.
“What business would not stay if they were successful and profitable?” Martin Cooper, CEO of Reading Pride, was quoted asking by NBC News. “The point is, they’ve not been given the option to stay by the landlords, The Oracle.”
The chain has had an anti-LGBT reputation after its current CEO commented on same-sex marriage in 2012. “And I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about,” the younger Cathy said..