After a report detailing their 2017 charitable contributions was published by the liberal website Think Progress in March, Chick-fil-A’s expansion plans for local airports were slapped down in San Antonio, TX and Buffalo, NY by Democratic lawmakers.

The lawmakers cited the company’s alleged “anti-LGBTQ” views as the deciding factor. But one liberal group known for representing the LGBTQ community stepped up this week to defend the embattled chicken sandwich restaurant in a surprising move.

The Hill reports:

The New York affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union sided with Chick-fil-A Wednesday after the chicken sandwich chain was blocked from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

“Government actors cannot officially silence speech or take punitive actions based on a person’s or private entity’s political viewpoints,” NYCLU Assistant Director for Legislative Affairs Erika Lorshbough said in a statement to The Hill.

“The First Amendment does not permit the NFTA to base its contracting decisions on the political views of a vendor.”

In the San Antonio case, the Texas-based First Liberty Institute legal group sent a formal request last week to DOT Secretary Elaine Chao and US Attorney General William Barr to investigate whether the actions of the San Antonio City Council violated the First Amendment.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also directed his office to look into the San Antonio situation.

It’s not clear whether or not Chick-fil-A has plans to take legal action in either city regarding efforts to ban them from expansion, but nevertheless it’s nice to know they have defenders in high places, and that in this instance at least one liberal group “gets it.”

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–