Chick-Fil-A's Gay Hate Sparks More Hate

So what's been happening recently is that Christian fast food business Chick-Fil-A has been getting a lot of backlash over their stance against gay marriage. Former US presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee instituted "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" as an opportunity for customers who strongly believe in Christian values to celebrate their belief, and the event has been a major success with packed restaurants coming to support the company CEO, Dan Cathy, who recently came out with statements against same sex marriage.

The backlash has really divided the American nation and global public into two separate sides. On the one hand, you have pro-gay activists and same sex marriage supporters boycotting restaurants in the chain and lashing out at Dan Cathy and his company for their homophobic stance, while also criticizing Chick-Fil-A for giving millions of dollars to groups that advocate against gay rights and same sex marriage. On the other side of the fence, conservative Christians have flocked to restaurants to show their appreciation and have lauded Dan Cathy for upholding Christian values. The conflict has been escalating and the situation has gotten out of hand.

Dan Cathy: " I'm guilty as charged of supporting the biblical definition of the family unit"; "gay marriage invites God's judgment on our nation."

Personally, I am not against same-sex marriage or gay rights in any way, but it seems to me the focus of this problem is and should revolve around the right to free speech and personal beliefs. Let me get in some detail here.

Mike Huckabee has stated that: " The goal is simple: let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for Godly values by simply showing up and eating at Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1st. Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same sex marriage, abortion or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we're considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate mongers and intolerant".

And although I don't agree with some of the words he used, I think he's absolutely right. Companies and products that support gay rights are praised for taking a stance, even though they come under fire from more traditional groups. Products like Oreos support same sex marriage and other non-traditional values. I think it's only normal that Christian groups, products and companies are allowed to support their own values just the same. Both opinion groups have the right to freedom of speech, and if you truly believe in that freedom of speech it applies to both Oreos and Chick-Fil-A.

A Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day line

Some might argue that Oreos should be lauded for coming out for gay rights, whereas Dan Cathy should be criticized for coming out against them. Freedom of speech doesn't work like that. It doesn't apply preferentially to one side of an argument just because people believe that side is "more right". To Oreos supporters (myself among them), their actions are commendable because they come out for universal rights, respect and compassion whereas Chick-Fil-A comes out as homophobic and intolerant. But that's just one side of the coin, one point of view, that isn't and shouldn't be considered less valuable than the opposite: to Chick-Fil-A supporters (or more specifically, to Dan Cathy, but more on that later), the company's actions come out for traditional and Christian values, not homophobia, values that are fundamental to them, and companies like Oreos come out against their values and their beliefs. This is why I think Huckabee actually has a point: they're just doing what Oreos did, they're just supporting their views and beliefs and have every right to do so.

Something more has come out of this crisis, though. As much as I usually trash traditionalists and fundamentalists for hate-mongering and for boycotting pro-gay groups and corporations, sadly the same kind of intolerance and hate-mongering can be seen on the pro-gay side of the fence, who normally is against that kind of intolerance. Following Dan Cathy's statements, individuals that support gay rights have started boycotting Chick-Fil-A restaurants and even harassing their employees - and that right there is a problem.

You see, Dan Cathy's statements represent his opinions. Not necessarily those of his thousands and thousands of employees, many of which are openly gay or supportive of gay rights. Yet plenty of gay activists have assaulted, criticized and harassed innocent employees for the actions and beliefs of one man, and it just makes me feel really bad for the Chick-Fil-A employees. And really embarrassed that pro-gay people who usually take up an enlightened, civilized mantle and criticize traditionalists for their harassment act exactly the same way when their turn comes.

For example, check out this asshole that's harassing a female Chick-Fil-A employee while she's being extremely polite during the ordeal:

For example, one gay employee from an Atlanta restaurant came across both kinds of supporters. He had a customer who congratulated him for not supporting the queers and thanking him for being able to eat in peace now. He was also yelled at for being a God-loving, conservative, homophobic Christian while serving another customer.

"It seems like very few people have stopped to think about who actually works for Chick-fil-A and what those people's opinions are," he said. "They are putting us in a pot and coming to support us or hate us based on something they heard and assume we agree with."

Gabriel Aguiniga, another gay employee, says the hardest thing to deal with is not Cathy's statements but having people walk up to him and and telling them they support his employer because his company hates the gays.

Management is trying to reconcile the two sides and, well, manage the crisis by instructing their employees to remain neutral no matter what customers say, although many have declared that staying neutral can be difficult when you have people walking up to you and saying things like "Don’t give me that hate shit,” and “I hope you choke on that chicken". They're encouraging their employees to not turn this into a debate, because the CEO's stance was just a statement of support, and I sort of agree. It wasn't an invitation for debate. If you think harassing and boycotting Oreos for their beliefs is wrong, have the same respect for the beliefs of others - that's being civilized and enlightened.

Ultimately, the end result of this situation is that it makes a mess out of both sides and makes both supporters and non-supporters act and look like idiots. Pro-gays harassing innocent Chick-Fil-A employees are being unreasonable and ignorant, and traditionalists supporters joining in on Dan Cathy's side and exaggerating the company's stance from "not anti-gay just againt same-sex marriage" to "I hate the gays, good on you", while at the same time folding behind freedom of speech as a shield for their hate mongering, are both missing the real big point here. 

And that point is that their perception of what "freedom of speech" actually is all about is skewed and both sides are ruining the reasonable stance of free speech and what it should really stand for.