Business & Tech

No Protest Planned for Bolingbrook Chick-fil-A Opening

Some may still protest Thursday's opening of the new restaurant, following comments by the chain's president against same-sex marriage in July.

No official protests have been announced for Thursday's opening of Chick-fil-A in . 

The Bolingbrook restaurant will open in a new building at 245 N. Weber Rd., in front of the  at the intersection of Weber and Boughton Road Wednesday.

More than 100 people camped outside Chick-fil-A for free food for a year. Hear their stories here. 

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Lea Anne Stoughton, president of the great Joliet area chapter of PFLAG, had said in August she was in the process of talking with other members of her chapter and "gauging the willingness" to organize a Bolingbrook protest. PFLAG stands for Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays

"The goal is to say, 'Here are some things you may want to know before you eat at Chick-fil-A,'" Stoughton said. "Even though it's in the news, there are a lot of people who never really think about it.

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"(Cathy) is welcome to believe whatever he believes. As consumers, we have the right to patronize an establishment based on the beliefs of its owners."

But the group decided not to organize a protest, as doing so would open themselves up for negative reactions they would rather avoid, Stoughton wrote in an e-mail. 

"They already face hate and judgment without inviting it," she wrote. 

That doesn't mean there won't be some protesters at the restaurant's opening. 

An Oswego High School graduate organized a protest for the recent opening of Chick-fil-A in Oswego on Aug. 24. The outrage over comments of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy against same-sex marriage were widely publicized in July. 

Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said his business was "guilty as charged" in support of the "biblical definition of the family unit," according to the AP.

In response, a Chicago alderman said he would use aldermanic privilege to block a proposed Chick-fil-A from opening in his ward, according to ABC

The Jim Henson company severed ties with Chick-fil-A, and Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino sent a letter to Cathy saying, "There is no place for discrimination on Boston's Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it," ABC reported

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel wrote in a statement to the Chicago Tribune, "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values..They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty."

Cathy's remarks sparked passionate support, as well as outrage. 

In support of Cathy's stance, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee organized "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, which .  

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