Chick-fil-A: 'Cuz Nothing's as American as Fast Food

So in case you're living under a rock and hadn't heard, Americans came out in droves today to eat lots and lots of fast food in support of Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A and son of the founder of Chick-fil-A. Dan Cathy recently came out against gay marriage, stating that his religion perceives it as wrong and immoral. Several days ago, in response to Cathy's open bigotry, the mayors of Boston and Chicago let their voices be heard, telling all who would listen that their fine cities would not support an establishment which supported inequality. One such mayor being my mayor, Rahm Emanuel. A Chicago Alderman also vowed to not allow a Chick-fil-A to open in his ward. Now, part of me thought, "Wait, what?! You have no legal right to deny any business from opening an establishment if it isn't breaking a law!" Many people are touting this whole thing as a "freedom of speech issue" and yes, people do have the right to their opinions... and yes, people should be allowed to freely run a business, regardless of their beliefs... which is why, even though I disagree with Cathy's beliefs, part of me was like WTF?! But then I read this:

"Chick-fil-A, the corporate parent, has been sued at least 12 times since 1988 on charges of employment discrimination, according to records in U.S. District Courts. Aziz Latif, a former Chick-fil-A restaurant manager in Houston, sued the company in 2002 after Latif, a Muslim, says he was fired a day after he didn't participate in a group prayer to Jesus Christ at a company training program in 2000. The suit was settled on undisclosed terms."
(Forbes)

And this:

"Honeycutt, who used to work for Chick-Fil-A, is suing her former employer because according to court documents, her supervisor, Jeff Howard, who owns the Duluth, Georgia Chick-Fil-A restaurant, fired her because he wanted her to be a 'stay home mother.' To make matters worse, Howard replaced Honeycutt, who is suing for wrongful termination, with a male employee. Court documents also state that Brenda Honeycutt got performance evaluations of 'satisfactory' or 'above satisfactory.'"
(The New Civil Rights Movement)


Did reading that make you shake your head in disapproval, too?
And did Judas Priest just pop into your head, too?


I can not help but ask myself, "How would people feel if the CEO of Chick-fil-A were against interracial marriage?" I would hope that most people would be boycotting Chick-fil-A instead of standing in line for hours. It wasn't that long ago when Americans were divided between what was "right" and "moral" in concern to whites marrying non-whites, African-Americans in particular. Many people who were opposed to interracial marriage used religion as a means to justify their argument:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend the races to mix."
(Loving v. Virginia)

If you really think about it, the Gay Rights Movement is the Civil Rights Movement of today. Just as African-Americans were fighting for their freedoms back in the day, so is the LGBT community fighting and struggling for their rights as they come up against road blocks, narrow mindedness, and laws created out of bigotry. Now before anyone gets their pannies in a bunch and starts telling me how these movements are different and how the bible says this, that, and the other, let me just say this: Just as the majority of people today don't believe that gays should be allowed to be married, so did the majority of people not so long ago believe that people of different ethnic backgrounds should not be allowed to marry. However, now-a-days, most people aren't against interracial marriage, and it's pretty common place. So I'm pretty sure that in the not so distant future, gay marriage will also be common place, and as our grandchildren and great-grandchildren read about the Gay Rights Movement in their history textbooks (hopefully not written in Texas!) they will be shaking their heads and thinking, "What the #*$% was wrong with these people, just as we do (well, I sure hope the #*$% you do) when reading about our ancestors who were for slavery, against Civil Rights Laws, against interracial marriage, for segregation, and so on.


I leave you with this article: "Chick-fil-A restaurant goes rogue, supports gay marriage"

Tell me, how do you feel about this?