Chick-Fil-A Anti-Gay Support

Apologies Just Won’t Cut it This Time

Chick-fil-A, the popular restaurant chain known for its boneless chicken breast sandwich, has recently been recognized for something other than clogging customers’ arteries.

In offering free catering to a marriage seminar hosted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute — one of the state’s largest anti-gay groups — Chick-fil-A has made it clear where it stands in the cultural debate over gay rights.

Pennsylvania Family Institute President Michael Geer hasn’t been shy about his anti-gay views, so it’s no wonder that gay-rights groups proposed boycotting the chain.

To combat the bad press, Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy posted a video on the company’s Facebook fan page on Jan. 11 to clear its name. He claims that despite the fact that his company openly supported the denial of gay rights, the restaurant strives to “serve all people and values all people.”

That promise isn’t good enough. It will take a lot more than a Facebook apology for the sake of damage control to temper offended customers.

While Chick-fil-A may only be a fast food company, the idea of a major employer making an overt, public statement against civil rights is unacceptable in the 21st century. Espousing certain religious agendas is one thing, but Chick-fil-A executives must realize this denial of civil rights will incur a public backlash — one that may hold fiscal repercussions for the family-owned chain.

At the end of the day, despite the company’s discriminatory stance on gay marriage, Chick-fil-A must value profits gained from all customers — no matter their sexual orientations.

— Lexi Halamandaris

Staff Writer

Private Companies at their Will

Fried poultry chain Chick-fil-A is the latest subject of financial contribution scrutiny. The Georgia-based restaurant chain has come under attack for catering a marriage seminar for the Pennsylvania Family Institute, an anti-gay organization.

Chick-fil-A isn’t the first to use products as a vehicle for Biblical values. Forever 21 and In-N-Out both conceal Biblical references on the bottoms of shopping bags and milkshake cups, but these idiosyncrasies haven’t caused grievances with patrons the way politically fueled donations do. President Dan Cathy claims his franchises donated food like they would to any community event, and that the company refrains from identifying with any agenda.

Even if it did choose to identify with a political agenda, Chick-fil-A is completely within its rights to support movements and figures it favors, but it shouldn’t expect everyone to be on board with their decisions. Private companies like Chick-fil-A have no responsibility to act as delegates to their customers.

We must accept that once our money leaves our pockets, it becomes subject to the whims of richer executives who will fund what they may: another yacht, a cohort’s bid for Congress or a crusade to push an ideology over a population wider than their customer base. This is probably why Chick-fil-A promotes their creed in a public forum.

Yes, they want to maintain the sanctity of marriage by donating processed chicken nuggets and brownies, but they reap yet another benefit: free advertising. In the end, no matter the repercussions — good or bad — Chick-fil-A has jurisdiction to do whatever it wants.

— Alex Pakzad

Staff Writer

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