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I have to admit that I am not totally in tune to the Chick-Fil-A controversy as much as my fellow blogging colleagues and the rest of my lgbtq brothers and sisters.
But what I do see of it does bother me a bit.
It’s not the boycott per se more than how folks who claim to support Chick-Fil-A in accordance to their “Christian values” are deliberately distorting the reasons why the lgbtq community are angry at Chick-Fil-A.
Folks like Mike Huckabee and organizations like the National Organization for Marriage and the American Family Association are attempting to force a false narrative that the gay community is angry at Chick-Fil-A simply because its owner, Dan Cathy, made an ugly comment about not supporting marriage equality.
They are attempting to make it seem that Chick-Fil-A is a victim of “alleged gay intolerance” because its president supports the “traditionally Biblical definition of marriage.”
And they are not being truthful.
In 2010, Chick-Fil-A donated nearly $2 million to groups who make it their mission to attack the gay community through lies and distortions. These groups push several false notions from homosexuality is connected to pedophilia to the idea that gays can change their orientation – an idea frowned on by the legitimate scientific community.
According to Equality Matters, the Family Research Council is one of these groups:
The Family Research Council has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for its propagation of known falsehoods about the LGBT community. For example, president Tony Perkins has a long history of false and inflammatory attacks, such as claiming that pedophilia is a “homosexual problem.” [Washington Times, 11/24/10; SPLC, accessed 6/27/12]
In addition, the following are just a few things which Chick-Fil-A’s money paid for:
August 15, 2011 – GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) issues a cease-and-desist letter against the Family Research Council demanding that the organization remove video falsely accusing GLSEN of distributing an explicit safe-sex guide to children. FRC subsequently changed the video, tacitly admitting that it was pushing a falsehood against GLSEN.
February 28, 2011 – In order to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), FRC distorts research in order to compare gay men to pedophilesJuly 6, 2010 – FRC spokesman Peter Sprigg pushes a pamphlet, The Top Ten Myths About Homosexuality,which not only repeats discredited anti-lgbt accuracies but exposes a bit of trickery on Sprigg’s part. He cites only part of pro-lgbt information which talks about diseases and negative behaviors but omits the information which talks about how homophobia plays a part in these diseases and negative behaviors.
April 16, 2010 – FRC head Tony Perkins makes a false accusation that homosexuality and pedophilia are connected by using a Netherlands study which doesn’t even prove his point.
January 7, 2010 – The Family Research Council exploits the presidential appointment of transgender Amanda Simpson to call ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) a “Crossdresser Protection Bill.”
November 23, 2009 – The Family Research Council was caught distorting Congresswoman Diana DeGette’s words to make her seem like she was espousing religious bigotry.November 18, 2009 – The Family Research Council spliced footage of then EEOC nominee Chai Feldblum to make the case against Obama choosing her.
October 27, 2009 – In an attack on lgbt seniors, the Family Research Council echoes the phony belief of Paul Cameron that lgbts don’t live long enough to become elderly.May 20, 2009 – The Family Research Council pushes a fraudulent study, Comparing the Lifestyles of Homosexual Couples to Married Couples. It’s a bad study specifically because it uses outdated work and compares married United States couples to unmarried gay couples in casual relationships from other parts of the world.
Huckabee and the rest who are deliberately distorting the entire story behind the gay community and Chick-Fil-A need to be aware that not telling the entire story when you KNOW the entire story is the same thing as lying and lying is NOT Christian.
Related post – What Chick-Fil-A’s money supports – a video montage of homophobia
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The LGBT community is also (or should be) upset with Chick-Fil-A because of their corporate policies. Chick-Fil-A receives a score of ZERO from HRC. This means they have no anti-discrimination policies that address sexual orientation and gender identity. This means that any LGBT employees or franchise owners have no employment protections at all.
But, based on their hiring practices, it’s highly doubtful that they have any LGBT franchise owners or employees.
http://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2012/07/chick-fil-politics-and-social-media-cautionary-tale
Few knew that founder Truett Cathy had firm opinions about the personal lives of the owners of Chick-fil-A’s 1,600 franchises and their employees. He preferred them married, and expected adherence to the company’s stated mission to “glorify God.”
“Family members of prospective operators — children, even — are frequently interviewed so Cathy and his family can learn more about job candidates and their relationships at home,” Forbes reported in 2007, when Cathy was 86.
” ‘If a man can’t manage his own life, he can’t manage a business,’ says Cathy, who says he would probably fire an employee or terminate an operator who ‘has been sinful or done something harmful to their family members.’ “
Oh, by the way: The glibertarian wing of the pro-Chick-fil-A and anti-gay-rights crowd is pushing the old “if you pick on one group you must pick on them all” line, their updated versions being variations on “if you boycott Chick-fil-A then you must boycott gasoline too because it all comes from Saudi Arabia where they execute gays”. (Except of course that most US gas doesn’t come from Saudi Arabia, but what’s a little facts when the goal is to protect Chick-fil-A at all costs?)