Written: 8/26/2012
One of my favorite sites, the Good Men Project absolutely hits it out of the park with an awesome article.
Two quotes:
Youâre not waiting in line 20 minutes for waffle fries to make a point about free speech, or youâd be just as quick to defend the speech of someone you disagree with, like me. Youâre showing your âappreciationâ for Chick-Fil-A because âI hate gay peopleâ is so unpleasant to utter aloud. Itâs much easier to say, âIâm going to eat this chicken sandwich.â Right now, appreciating Chick-Fil-A is the safest form of homophobia there is. No wonder so many people are flocking to their restaurants. And if anyone gets offended, you can plead innocent. âWhat?  I donât hate gay people. I just like fill-in-the-blank [breast tenders, religious tolerance, the First Amendment].â
If thatâs your argument, then at the very best youâre kidding yourself. Let me make it perfectly clear, though, that youâre not fooling me. Chick-Fil-A has donated millions of dollars to anti-gay groups and has given every indication that they will continue to do so. Weâre not just talking about organizations that oppose gay marriage. These are hate groups that claim that homosexuality can be cured, that being gay is linked to child molestation and that gay people shouldnât be allowed to raise children. You can imagine why this would be a particularly sensitive issue to me.
And the second:
Iâm not saying that everyone who dines at Chick-Fil-A is a bigot or my mortal enemy. Itâs possible some people go there out of convenience or necessity. Maybe itâs the only place at the mall food court their kids will eat or itâs the only drive-thru they pass on their way home every night. It could be that they work there and rely on the employee discount. Iâm not going to judge everyone who patronizes the business. Lifeâs complicated, and we all have our own reasons for doing the things we do.
But if youâre going to eat Chick-Fil-A to make some political point, at least have the courage to be honest about the point youâre making.
You donât like gay people.
The sky is blue.
End of discussion
All my best,
The King of Spades