The Chick-fil-A controversy continues to rattle about in the press. Company President and Chief Operating Officer Dan Cathy boldly told the Baptist Press that he does not support same-sex marriage and, in fact, contributes to hate groups like Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council that spread lies about the LGBT community.
According to the company website, there are 1,615 Chick-fil-A restaurants in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Annual sales, for the most recent year, totaled $4 billion for the Atlanta-based company. Although stores are mostly in the East, there are some California outposts. BusinessInsider.com says the company gave $2 million to seven anti-gay outfits in 2010 with more than $1 million going to the newly formed Marriage and Family Foundation, based in Jonesboro, Georgia.
Cathy cites a religious basis for his anti-gay views. This is an old argument. Southern racists, who opposed integration, cited the Bible as their source of opposition to racial equality. "God never intended whites and blacks to mix," was a common view in the Deep South during the civil rights era. Similarly, those who opposed women's rights used religion to argue against giving women the right to vote. So, Cathy is adhering to a religious argument that has a long history of holding back social change.
In the weeks since this controversy began, conservative politicians have jumped on the Chick-fil-A bandwagon. Texas' U.S. Senate candidates campaigned at Chick-fil-A eateries in their state. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), once rumored to be gay, posted a photo on his Facebook page with a Chick-fil-A bag of sandwiches. Even 93-year-old Reverend Billy Graham, never an advocate for social change, endorsed the Chick-fil-A view against same-sex marriage. Many other conservatives have shown their support for the company. Former Republican Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee rallied fellow conservatives for a national Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day last week. Long lines of people sent sales at some stores up as much as 200 percent according to the New York Times. An LGBT-sponsored kiss-in at Chick-fil-A restaurants was held two days later with lesser success and publicity.
There are two main arguments connected to this controversy. The first argument revolves around the First Amendment's freedom of speech. This argument goes that Cathy is free to express his views under the First Amendment against same-sex marriage. This is, after all, a free country. Politicians, including San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and others, who initially advised Cathy against opening or expanding stores in their gay-friendly cities, have since backed away from their strong talk based on this First Amendment argument.
Cathy is free to speak out against same-sex marriage, but what if he had spoken out against interracial marriage and used the n-word in his speech. What would have been the public outcry? I'd like to think his speech would have been condemned by all segments of society. He has no freedom to spread hate speech. For this reason, we do not have media coverage of speeches by racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. The media doesn't want to give them a platform for their hate speech. I don't understand why the media has given Cathy and others a platform to freely bash LGBT people.
The second argument in this controversy is one taken by those who support Cathy's view that same-sex marriage is against God's will. The Washington Times, once controlled by Reverend Sun Myung Moon, has been referring to those who oppose Cathy as "anti-Christians." This should make all LGBT people angry because it assumes there are no LGBT Christians. This feeds into the stereotype that LGBT people oppose religion. It diminishes the role of LGBT Christians, like Metropolitan Community Church founder the Reverend Troy Perry, in society. This view cannot stand as it is a further example of hate speech. It is simply illogical to say that those who oppose hate speech laced in religion are anti-Christian.
In order to protest against Chick-fil-A, don't buy their sandwiches. Contact relatives and friends in states with Chick-fil-A stores and ask them not to support the company because it supports hate. Also, contact the corporate office and express your displeasure with the company. Some conservatives have suggested that any serious LGBT protest against Chick-fil-A will make it less likely for others to express anti-gay views. Protest away, and let's hope this is the case.
A former Washington journalist, James Patterson now resides in San Francisco. He can be reached at mailto:[email protected].