Salon.com > Chick-fil-A appreciation day

Will Chick-fil-A stop funding anti-gay groups?

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:41:00 +0000

Chicago advocacy group the Civil Rights Agenda claims that Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain that recently became better known for its politics than its sandwiches, has promised to stop funding anti-gay organizations. The organization wrote via press release that Chicago Alderman Proco Moreno has finalized negotiations with Chick-fil-A and "has confirmed that Chick-fil-A will no longer give money to anti-gay organizations" and that the company "will treat every person equally, regardless of sexual orientation." The press release continues:

In a letter addressed to Alderman Moreno and signed by Chick-fil-A’s Senior Director of Real Estate, it states, “The WinShape Foundations is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas.” Winshape, a non-profit funded by Chick-fil-a, has donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBT groups, including some classified as hate groups. In meetings the company executives clarified that they will no longer give to anti-gay organizations.

Five lessons from Chick-fil-A

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:47:00 +0000

There are so many reasons to both uncontrollably laugh at and be intensely disgusted by last week's brouhaha over Chick-fil-A. With droves of American eaters rewarding the company with record sales for its CEO's public rant against gay marriage, you can let out that same chuckle you release when you watch Coen brothers characters -- you guffaw at the paranoia, the sheer stupidity and the irrational animus of a bewildered herd. You can also feel that intestinal-tract pang of nausea you experience during food poisoning -- the feeling that no matter what you look at to try to calm your gut, the image is going to make you simultaneously defecate and puke all over yourself.

Take that, Chick-fil-A!

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 19:45:00 +0000

Isn't it inconvenient when the holidays fall so closely together? Like Christmas and New Year's. Or Labor Day and Rosh Hashana. Or Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day and Chick-fil-A Same-Sex Kiss Day. And yet, just two days after our great nation declared its allegiance to traditional biblical values and biscuits, a new throng is descending upon the poultry franchise. But … but … America still hasn't even fully digested its brownie sundaes from Wednesday!

Suffice to say, it's been a strange week. How did we all get in this side dish of pickles anyway? It started last month, after Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy came out of the closet as officially "guilty as charged" on the matter of his beliefs about "biblical marriage" (unsurprising from a guy whose WinShape organization has thrown millions at anti-gay groups). After that got out, the company quickly found itself the unlikely center of a storm over either basic human rights or decent American values, depending on how people spin it. Next, cleverly capitalizing on the brouhaha, former presidential contender, Fox News host and carrot-raisin salad aficionado Mike Huckabee decreed via Facebook that August 1 should be a national day of honoring our values and the people who best represent them. A Martin Luther King Jr. Day with nuggets, if you will. And so, Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day was born. On Wednesday, crowds hungry for coleslaw and good old-fashioned heterosexuality lined up in droves to show their support for the chain. Morals were affirmed; tiny packets of fat-free honey mustard dressing were opened. Indoctrination was avoided.

Chick-fil-A: Too “sinful” to fry chicken?

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:25:00 +0000

Wealth gives Chick-fil-A’s owners an outsize impact on our politics: As we’ve been reminded this week, the company channels millions of dollars into anti-gay organizations. But its impact on national policy is nothing compared to its influence over the lives of its employees. Comments from the company’s founder suggest that Chick-fil-A embraces its legal right to reward and punish employees’ private behavior. And a series of lawsuits allege that managers have wielded their authority over workers in ways that break the law: firing a Muslim for refusing to pray to Jesus; firing a manager so that she’d become a stay-at-home mom; and punishing workers for objecting to sexual harassment.

It’s now common knowledge that Chick-fil-A wears its brand of Christian conservatism on its sleeve. In a 2007 article, Forbes’ Emily Schmall described how that ethos infused the company’s employment policies. It meant extensive vetting of franchise operators, including interviewing their children and asking about their involvement in “community, civic, social, church and/or professional organizations.” “If a man can’t manage his own life, he can’t manage a business,” Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy told Schmall.