Chick-fil-A customers: "It's like seeing someone coming out of a porn shop all sweaty, with a box of goodies. Yuck."-me

Does the Constitution protect bigots from looking like lousy Americans? Nope. Hate and seething homophobia may produce long lines at Chick-fil-A, but it's bad PR, and makes every customer look grotesque.

It’s like seeing someone coming out of a porn shop all sweaty, with a box of goodies. Yuck.  Here's what you'd expect to see from the Fox News coverage:

An Op-Ed in the NY Times by Steve Salbu, who says he’s gay, supports Dan Cathy’s right to be a big business bigot. Don’t you love tolerance? But tolerance is the weapon of the right, because it’s an invitation to push the envelope with little or no blowback. I’m thinking “tea party.”

When Republicans target Planned Parenthoods, is it big government discrimination? They’ve even threatened boycotts of businesses that ban firearms. But ASKING Chick-fil-A to go away because they’re homophobic losers? That’s going too far?

(What was) troubling was that officials in a number of cities expressed not only their ire but also their desire to keep Chick-fil-A out of their towns. In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino urged Chick-fil-A not to open a restaurant, explaining to The Boston Herald: “You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population.” In Philadelphia, the City Council member James Kenney wrote to Mr. Cathy, instructing him to “take a hike and take your intolerance with you.” A Chicago alderman opposed the opening of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant in his ward. And Speaker Christine Quinn of the New York City Council endorsed a movement by students at New York University who are pushing for the removal of Chick-fil-A from the school’s campus.

As a gay man, I’m disheartened. A society that truly believes in individual freedom will respect Mr. Cathy’s right to his views. Those who disagree with him are free to boycott Chick-fil-A in protest. But if our elected officials run Chick-fil-A out of town, they are effectively voting for all of us, regardless of our respective beliefs, and eliminating our individual freedoms. And freedom, after all, is at the heart of the controversy over same-sex marriage.

We made this happen, by never showing outrage over bigoted comments like those from Dan Cathy. Cathy’s religious freedom allows him to vilify and belittle others who have the same First Amendment rights as he does, but unfortunately for them, aren’t allowed to enjoy them.

Yet the comments above were opinions, and not a governmental efforts to stop the chain from opening their rancid sandwich shops. It'shard to disagree with any of the viewpoints:

In a statement to FoxNews.com, Sarah Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Emanuel, said that the mayor said that Cathy did not share Chicago’s values. “He did not say that he would block or play any role in the company opening a new restaurant here,” Hamilton said in a statement to FoxNews.com. “If they meet all the usual requirements, then they can open their restaurant, but their values aren't reflective of our city.”

And in a letter Philadelphia City Councilman James Kenney wrote a letter to Cathy criticizing him for his comments. "As an American you are legally entitled to your opinion, regardless of how insensitive and intolerant it may be, but as a fellow American and an elected member of Philadelphia City Council; I am entitled to express my opinion as well," Kenney wrote. "So please – take a hike and take your intolerance with you. There is no place for this type of hate in our great City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection."

Did you know that businesses have constitutional rights that gay Americans don't? It's true:

"We heard about the protests against Chick-Fil-A, so we came over to support the rights of small business owners and the rights of business owners to say what they believe," said Keith Chillquist. "There's this thing called the Constitution, and Democrats try and take it and do whatever they want with it but we think that's wrong." 

We did nothing to it but object, but the authoritarian nature of conservatives won't stand for our free speech rights. And just to make sure enough people showed up, free gift cards from a right wing fringe group:  

The Wisconsin Family Council purchased 300 $5 gift cards as a "thank you" to those stopping at the restaurant to eat. Julaine Appling, president of the group, said with the turnout so much greater than anticipated, they had to buy more gift cards to try and keep up.

What a con.