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Chick-Fil-A: No hard Feelings, But We Hate Gays.

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Bet Chick-fil-A wishes this month would end. Over the past few weeks, the restaurant chain's deep ties to the anti-gay movement have been exposed and uncovered by a number of activists, most notably Jeremy Hooper at Good As You. Whether it's Focus on the Family, the National Organization for Marriage, the Pennsylvania Family Institute, or Exodus International, Chick-fil-A ties run deep.

Of course, the President of Chick-fil-A wants gay people to share no hard feelings. The restaurant will gladly feed homosexuals gobs of chicken sandwiches, after all. But when it comes to marriage, Chick-fil-A believes strongly that same-sex couples just don't deserve equal rights.

As we wrote about a few weeks ago, Chick-fil-A's charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation, has been particularly active in the fight against marriage equality. They've hosted conferences with some of the leading opponents of gay marriage in this country. A higher up at WinShape has even praised the efforts of anti-gay activist David Blankenhorn for working against marriage equality, and for articulating a solid reason why American culture should reject same-sex couples.

Now comes some email correspondence that Good As You has shared on their blog, where the WinShape Foundation's Retreat Center -- a center run by the charitable arm of Chick-fil-A -- admits that they have a severe distaste for LGBT people.

The email correspondence goes a little something like this. Someone writes WinShape an easy question about whether their retreat center is open to LGBT people. WinShape's response:

"WinShape Retreat defines marriage from the Biblical standard as being between one man and one woman. Groups/Individuals are welcome who offer wholesome, educational conferences and programs that are compatible with Biblical values and WinShape's purpose," WinShape wrote back.

Kind of some corporate speak, right? So the activist wrote back: can you just give a clear-cut answer? And WinShape confirmed:

"We do not accept homosexual couples because of the statement in our contract."

And so it goes like this: Chick-fil-A is a restaurant where franchises frequently donate to anti-gay organizations like the Pennsylvania Family Institute, Focus on the Family and others. The restaurant's charitable arm, WinShape, holds conferences for opponents of gay marriage and praises their work. And this charitable arm's Retreat program puts a blanket ban on gay couples using their facilities, because they "do not accept homosexual couples."

Yet the President of Chick-fil-A still says that all people, including LGBT people, are treated with respect by the restaurant? Huh, what a funny definition of respect.

Meanwhile, check this story out. So the Human Rights Campaign's NOMExposed project tried to submit an equality-minded video to the Ruth Institute's "Reel Love Video Challenge." The Ruth Institute is an affiliate of the National Organization for Marriage, and they're running a contest where folks can submit videos talking about what love means. The video below was originally accepted, but then promptly booted out of the project once the Ruth Institute became aware that it actually championed equality for same-sex couples.

Here's the kicker: the Ruth Institute's "Reel Love Video Challenge" has a tie-in to Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation. Wouldn't it be nice to hear why the Ruth Institute and the WinShape Foundation find the below video so offensive? After all, what is love if it isn't equal?


LINK


+1 boycott for me I guess :(
 
I know a lot of people find this silly, but I'm still kind of bummed that I went eating in a Chick-Fil-A when I was in the US. If I had known the background of the company, I wouldn't have given them my money.
 
Buckethead said:
Don't shop at Chick-Fil-A but shop at WalMart, etc. etc.

Oy vey.

You kids are funny.

I think if companies were trying to support organizations that wanted to take away your personal rights as a human being, you wouldn't shop there either.

But hey, way to contribute.
 

Hex

Banned
A restaurant closed on sundays and that holds mostly religious themed events is not exactly gay friendly...who would have thought it. *insert some kind of sarcastic 'what in the hell did you expect you idiots' emote*
 

AlteredBeast

Fork 'em, Sparky!
Srsly said:
Good thing Chick-Fil-A is severaly overrated, about as overrated as Chipotle.

Nothing is as overrated as Chipotle. I can name half a dozen places similar that taste much better...
 
This is how capitalism works. Vote with your dollar if you don't like it, but they have every right to whatever policies and beliefs they want.

All this crucification is pretty typical for GAF though. I foresee the rest of the thread as a bunch of virtual back patting and pious high fives.
 

Sanjuro

Member
Usually I'm on the side of the gay crowd, but Chick-Fil-A is a fast food from the gods.

My advice,

1. Act straight. Go in costume. Potential Freddy Mercury stache to balance the gayness and awesomeness.

2. Get the Chicken. Get the Grilled Chicken sammich with waffle fries and a Dr. Pepper.

3. Bail the fuck out. Run in to the nearest large vehicle. Eat the heavenly food. Tint those windows and bang in the Bible thumper's parking lot.

4. Profit. You have obtained the best in fast food with some god cursing sex to close.
 
Hex said:
A restaurant closed on sundays and that holds mostly religious themed events is not exactly gay friendly...who would have thought it. *insert some kind of sarcastic 'what in the hell did you expect you idiots' emote*


In-N-Out is an extremely religious family owned company that even print bible passages on all of their packaging, but they're not out there telling people they hate gays.
 
I don't want to get too involved in this discussion, especially in this thread, but I just want to say that believing marriage is between one man and one woman does not equate to rabid hatred of practicing homosexuals. I am a Christian who believes that marriage is a holy sacrament established by God, partially as a mirror for the relationship between Christ and the church, which is why a same-sex relationship cannot really be called marriage. But I interact on a daily basis with open homosexuals in my daily life as a musician, and am good friends with many of them. Simply because we have differing viewpoints doesn't mean we have to hate each other, guys. Don't overreact at Chick-Fil-A's position here.
 

G-Fex

Member
TheWiicast said:
I think if companies were trying to support organizations that wanted to take away your personal rights as a human being, you wouldn't shop there either.

But hey, way to contribute.

Yeah but are we human or are we dancer?

That's my contribution, sit on that one for a while.

edit: Also, chik-fil-a is stupid but I don't even know where one is located so It's not like I'll buy there.
 
hosannainexcelsis said:
I don't want to get too involved in this discussion, especially in this thread, but I just want to say that believing marriage is between one man and one woman does not equate to rabid hatred of practicing homosexuals. I am a Christian who believes that marriage is a holy sacrament established by God, partially as a mirror for the relationship between Christ and the church, which is why a same-sex relationship cannot really be called marriage. But I interact on a daily basis with open homosexuals in my daily life as a musician, and am good friends with many of them. Simply because we have differing viewpoints doesn't mean we have to hate each other, guys. Don't overreact at Chick-Fil-A's position here.

This is true. Afterall, our (D) President doesn't even believe in gay marriage (until 2014) yet I still toss him money anyway. My problem is with Chick-Fil-A donating to virulently homophobic outside groups such as Focus on the Family.
 
AlteredBeast said:
Nothing is as overrated as Chipotle. I can name half a dozen places similar that taste much better...

Qdoba, for one. People that like Chipotle must not have any other available burrito bars.
 
So WinShape not accepting gay couples because they can't meet their definition of marriage translates into "Chick-fil-A hates teh gheys!!!111"?
 

numble

Member
TheWiicast said:
In-N-Out is an extremely religious family owned company that even print bible passages on all of their packaging, but they're not out there telling people they hate gays.
I do wonder what they do politically and with regard to employee benefits and stuff though, and how their charitable subsidiaries (if they exist) act.
 

DoomGyver

Member
WinFonda said:
Is that when they have their secret gay orgies?
20hkmyh.gif
 
derder said:
Someone show me where Chick-fil-a said they don't agree with gay marriage.

Their charitable arm donates a ton of money to anti-gay organizations. Think of it as the Ronald McDonald House donating all of their money to the KKK.
 

Slurmer

Banned
this thread actually reminded me that I haven't had chick-fil-a in a while...ill have to swing by there tomorrow

at least they don't hate making delicious chicken biscuits, am i right?
 
Hex said:
A restaurant closed on sundays and that holds mostly religious themed events is not exactly gay friendly...who would have thought it. *insert some kind of sarcastic 'what in the hell did you expect you idiots' emote*
Being religious doesn't have to mean you're a bigot. It's unfortunate that people just take that as a given.

Regardless of that, it's good to have the news out there that proves their stance (I thought the anti-religious folks were all about the scientific method and proof, rather than assumptions?) so that people can make more informed purchases.
 
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