Chick-fil-a booted from group of proposed restaurants operating at Missouri Airport: Not inclusive

Chick-fil-A was dropped from a proposed collection of restaurants that will operate at the new Kansas City International Airport in Missouri terminal over claims it is not inclusive. 

A vendor working to win the contract to offer services in the terminal, Vantage Airport Group, said Wednesday during a Kansas City, Missouri, City Council committee meeting that it removed Chick-fil-A from its list of proposed eateries because the company does not promote an inclusive environment, KSHB reported. 

"We heard and respect the strong community reaction to the proposed Chick-Fil-A participation in the program. We have collectively made the decision to remove this brand from our concessions plan for the new terminal at KCI. Vantage strives to promote an inclusive environment at all our airports. We will work with our partners to find options for its replacement in our concessions proposal," Vantage Airport Group told Fox News on Wednesday. 

The announcement comes after the LGBTQ Commission of Kansas City published a letter on Monday calling for Chick-fil-A to be dropped from consideration. 

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"For the past six to eight months we’ve been putting out these inclusivity talking points, about having the most progressive airport in the country, and now we’re throwing Chick-fil-A in there," said Justin Short, a representative on Kansas City’s LGBTQ Commission. "You know you can’t do both."

The airport terminal had been praised in recent months for its gender-neutral bathrooms, private breastfeeding rooms, and adult changing rooms. 

Chick-fil-A did not immediately return Fox News’s request for comment on the matter. 

The announcement comes just a couple years after a similar situation unfolded at the San Antonio International airport, when city council officials rejected the restaurant’s bid to open a new location in the airport in 2019 over the company’s alleged "legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior. The restaurant chain was later offered a spot in 2020, but ultimately declined opening in the airport. 

This summer, Chick-fil-A also faced criticisms in New York, with Democrats pushing back on plans for Chick-fil-As open at rest stops in the state. 

"Chick-fil-A, through the charitable wing of its business, has a history of donating millions of dollars to organizations that are discriminatory and anti-LGBTQ organizations," Democratic Rochester-area Assembly Member Harry Bronson said in July.

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Chick-fil-A has often come under fire from liberals for donations to Christian groups accused of anti-LGBTQ views, such as the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. The company announced a donation policy shift in 2019 to focus on initiatives assisting in "the areas of education, homelessness and hunger."

Controversy over the restaurant chain also unfolded at Notre Dame University, a Catholic institution, in July, with some students expressing outrage over the prospect of the fast-food chain opening on campus due to its past donations to Christian groups.

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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham took to Twitter during the controversy and said he’d "go to war for the principles Chick-fil-A stands for."

It was announced later that month that the chain would ultimately open on campus this year.