The Harry Potter Alliance

Sandwich with a Side of Hate?

You may have heard about the Chick-fil-A controversy that’s been going on…but what’s it all about?

Well, it started a few weeks ago, when the president of Chick-fil-A made several derisive remarks about gay marriage, and stated that his massive, $4 billion company was supportive only of the “biblical definition” of marriage.

Then the controversy took off in a big way, with multiple states, schools, and cities threatening to ban the restaurant chain or requesting that restaurants not be built there. The Jim Henson Company pulled their toys from the kid’s meals at Chick-fil-A, and thousands of people all over the country are standing up and refusing to support a company that discriminates against people for who they love.

Now, this is a tricky topic, because it teeters on the edge of freedom of speech. But there is a difference in a person expressing their opinions privately, and a massive company actively discriminating against people. According to Equality Matters, in the last year alone, Chick-fil-A “spent around $2 million to fight marriage equality across the country, publishing false “reports” claiming that gay and lesbian people are abusive parents and, worst of all, pushing for criminalization of homosexuality all over the world. (AllOut)”

We all know that rich and powerful companies carry a lot of power in our government–one way or another. So when just such a company is not only shouting their disapproval, but also ‘putting their money where their mouth is,’ so to speak, people need to sit up and pay attention.

An interesting point was brought up in a recent article on the subject. The Mayor of Boston (along with several other cities) is strongly discouraging Chick-fil-A from opening a restaurant in Boston because of it’s stance on gay marriage.

“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population.~Boston Mayor Thomas Menino

The article went on to say that the restaurants could not be banned from the cities, or there would be serious law suits. “What if you had a town that said, ‘We don’t want any Democrats opening stores here, or any Catholics or any black people?’ I mean, this is not the place of government. And they are in legal jeopardy if they do this,” said a CNN legal analyst. But my question is, what would happen to a company that made a public statement like this against Catholics or black people? Much less actually supporting such statements financially. One can’t help but think that officials would be taking it much more seriously.

Be that as it may, however, the real point is that–as much power as these companies may have–people have more. You have more. People say that your dollar is your vote, and it couldn’t be more true in this case. Now is the time to stand up and tell Chick-fil-A that America is a land of freedom and EQUALITY, and that means not being discriminated against, or publicly slandered. There’s enough hate in this world without public figures spreading it around–or serving up with sandwiches.

So take a second to check out the AllOut petition, and tell Chick-fil-A that we won’t support discrimination on any level.