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Nearly 850 sign petition to remove Chick-fil-A from University of Maryland
Kyle Milligan of Severna Park, Md., posted the petition on Change.org
Photo courtesy of Change.org
Nearly 850 people have signed a petition that urges the University of Maryland to remove a Chick-fil-A restaurant from the College Park campus.
Kyle Milligan of Severna Park, Md., told the Blade that he posted it onto Change.org after he and his friends discussed Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s controversial comments against marriage rights for same-sex couples. He also noted “contributions to hate groups” that he said the company has made “in the past several years” as another factor that prompted him to launch the petition to remove the fast food eatery from the Adele H. Stamp Student Union’s food court.
“The SSU’s mission statement (from their website) is ‘to provide a safe and inviting campus center where all UM students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members cultivate lifelong relationships founded on engagement, learning, multiculturalism, and citizenship,’” said Milligan. “We decided that having a Chick-Fil-A restaurant in the SSU ran counter to this mission statement, and I decided to act by starting this petition.”
Milligan said university officials have not formally responded to his petition, although Stamp Student Union Director Marsha Guenzler Stevens told FOX 5 on Aug. 17 that it cannot remove Chick-fil-A from the food court until at least the end of the year when its contract expires. Milligan said reaction among his classmates remains mixed.
“A lot of people who say they oppose the petition do so because they see it as the wrong way to approach the issue. There hasn’t been a lot of vocal opposition that I’ve seen, at least not in opposition to the end goal of the petition,” he said. “Some people have questioned our approach, though. I’ve gotten a lot of people who say ‘just vote with your wallet and don’t eat there,’ but I think that sort of avoids the problem. Chick-Fil-A’s CEO is free to say what he wants, but as long as a percentage of corporate profits are used to fund organizations like the Family Research Council, which has spent thousands of dollars lobbying Congress not to condemn Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” legislation, it is totally inappropriate to house the restaurant on University of Maryland property, let alone eat there.”
Milligan launched his petition only days after Floyd Lee Corkins, II, reportedly had 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches in his backpack when he allegedly shot a security guard in the lobby of the Family Research Council’s downtown Washington headquarters. A Frederick Chick-fil-A was vandalized with pro-gay rights stickers and other items earlier this month, while roughly a dozen people gathered outside the chain’s downtown Silver Spring location on Aug. 3 to protest Cathy’s comments.
Chick-fil-A did not return the Blade’s request for comment about Milligan’s petition.
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday.
Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m.
Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests.
Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.
“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”
In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.
“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”
Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations.
“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”
Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure.
“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said. “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”
Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.
“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.”
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
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