After a nightmare summer when it came to public relations, the fast food restaurant Chick-Fil-A has announced that it will no longer get involved in the politics of gay equality and marriage. This comes after nearly a decade of the sandwich shop supporting pro-Christian and anti-gay causes. Although the two are not exclusively a couple, it does seem that most anti-gay groups are Christian based, and that most Christian groups do not support gay marriage.
The company released a statement on Wednesday, saying "Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena." ABC News reports that in 2010 the company gave $2 million to organizations such as Focus on the Family, which oppose same-sex marriage.
This news came after a Chicago alderman launched a campaign to stop the fast food chain's building permit issuance in the north side of the Windy City over some of the statements that the restaurant's CEO made this summer. Joe Moreno said that with this news he will no longer attempt to block the restaurant from building in Chicago. While the alderman's efforts may have played a part in the decision, it is also likely that the restaurant knew that customers in areas like Chicago's north side would be much fewer with the causes they currently supported.
The summer was a hotbed of controversy for the company, losing associations with The Henson Group (Muppets, Jim Henson) and sparking demonstrations about the restaurant's politics. Conservatives rallied around the restaurant, supporting their decision, saying it was free speech. Although it is certainly allowed for the restaurant to voice there opinion, there does not seem to be a conflict with situations like Moreno's campaign, as it could be argued that his efforts were also within the free speech umbrella.
However, Chick-Fil-A apparently found some reason to change their policy on supporting same sex marriages, and other conservative causes. This may be because the company plans to expand outside of the south, where most restaurants currently are. While the Atlanta-based company's Christian beliefs have kept them in good with the public in the South, where many share their views, their efforts to expand to much more liberal areas like California have raised difficulties.
They will still remain closed on Sundays in honor of the Sabbath, however.
Photo credit: JJandames on Flickr.com
Gabriel Legend covers a wide range of breaking news for Gather. He writes fiction as well, with his first novel coming out in 2013. You can follow on Twitter at @GabrielLegend1 or contact him directly here.
recommend
Facebook
Twitter
bookmark 
print
Comments: 41
Why, if they use the front door, next they'll want to sit in the front of the bus when a frail elderly white woman wants to sit down. We will not be bullied by uppity blacks and their supporters' blatant LIES!
First @Renee, I clearly said that Christian groups are mostly anti-gay marriage and anti-gay groups are mostly Christian. That doesn't mean all, that means most. However, I don't know any traditional marriage advocates that are supporters of gay marriage. Isn't that pretty much the definition of a "traditional marriage" advocate? Second, saying that someone's opinion caused someone else to commit a crime like the FRC shooting is a perfect example of how we place blame in today's world. The only person to blame for shooting up the FRC is Floyd Corkins. His excuse of "I don't like your politics" is stupid. I don't like a lot of people's politics, but I've never had the urge to go shoot up their place of employment.
@Hyper Intellect: You and I can clearly see what others are missing. In 50 years, our descendants will look back at us and be as appalled by the fact that many tried to stop gay marriage as we are by the fact that many tried to stop blacks from obtaining equal rights as the rest of humanity.
@Vickey First of all, even if there was a historical Sodom and Gomorrah, it wasn't some snake's nest of sin like the bible says it was, because the bible is full of fairy tales and in all likelihood, this is just another one to scare early Christians. By the way, there has never been any archaeological evidence for a real Sodom and Gomorrah and most experts think that it didn't exist. Second, if the Christians and their so-called morals were eliminated from this country it would be the best thing that ever happened. If the two-faced, lying, judgmental and hypocritical Christian "leaders" were out of the picture, then we wouldn't have idiots lying to kids, saying that the earth is 6000 years old when it is clearly 4.5 billion years old. We don't need the stupid bible, and we certainly don't need Christian hypocrites to tell us that killing and stealing is wrong. We know that already, just like we know that taking away equal rights for both blacks and LGBT people is wrong. It is you Christians that don't seem to have normal ingrained morals like the rest of us, because you pick and choose morals based upon the bible or some interpretation of it, and before you start shouting at your monitor that you believe in exactly what the bible says, let me ask how you feel about slavery, because it's allowed - even encouraged in the bible.
Really?
The only problem with that is that the human secularists wouldn't step up to replace all of that Christian charity.....There would be a whole lot more suffering in the world if we didn't have them narrow minded Christians around!
Show me a Human Secularist who is pulling a Mother Teresa act.
Less because of gay rights our President continues to be ahead of Republicans on, and more due to bigger issues:
Too much sovereign debt voted through by both parties,
Our imperial-size military being too far too large (voted through by both),
Insufficient action by both against global warming.
While I acknowledge she did wonderful work, wasn't it the late great Christopher Hitchens that made the case a primary goal of Mother Teresa's was to show pro-choice & contraception are not necessary?
Something very large daily child mortality, massive global child poverty, global warming, & nuclear warhead statistics show she failed miserably at.
Plenty of non-religious donate to and support charities that - unlike religion - do not have heavy current & historical links to massive human rights violations.
Actually, Mother Teresa was the perfect example. She struggled with her faith for a long time, but believed in the mission. She had a major crisis of faith just before she died, but she kept giving. There are many in this country (including myself) that would gladly give to help others get a fair chance to make something in this world and have a life free of hunger, homelessness and oppression without having to read some ancient book.
I believe that he is truly interested in progress and not keeping us back in the dark ages of the United States
Respectfully, Gabriel - I could not disagree more. What does that even mean? For those who are not paying attention - and since you have only started paying attention recently - I earnestly ask only one thing - that you scratch the surface on the allegations made toward the right. It is one thing to disagree politically, but it is altogether different to blatantly lie about one's opponent. All you need to do is scratch the surface just a bit to find that rarely are the allegations made substantiated.
Gabriel made several good points and you completely refuse to acknowledge anything the man said. Business as usual.
And btw, considering the progress that has been made with repealing DADT and Obama's ever evolving view on same-sex marriage, I have a feeling we're going to see some unprecedented, historic changes for the LGBT community once he's re-elected.
The True, Tony.
the dark ages for me include teaching children that evolution is false and intelligent design is correct -
Who is promoting this?
discriminating against those with a different sexual orientation,
Who is doing this?
preventing women from having abortions if they choose,
Who is doing this? (Although I would be all for it - I have a little problem with murder.
because one believes that they have a "soul" present in the body, and basically, continuing to ensure that the USA is a "Christian nation" even though our founding fathers never intended it to be a "christian" or any other religiously favored nation.
Who on the right is imposing their beliefs on you?
Pleased they finally stopped spraying us with that DADT pesticide Republicans want to keep hosing on!
"There continues to be erroneous implications in the media that Chick-fil-A changed our practices and priorities in order to obtain permission for a new restaurant in Chicago. That is incorrect. Chick-fil-A made no such concessions, and we remain true to who we are and who we have been."
;-) some nice news, for a change.
So, their contributions to 'Focus' and other Christian Organisations continue?