The Chick-Fil-A Boycott

I've gathered this information as a resource for myself and others who talk to people unaware of the 2012 boycott. I've drawn most of the information from Snopes, supplemented by articles from The Advocate, ThinkProgress.org, and EqualityMatters.org

In 2010, Chick-Fil-A (through WinShape Foundation, established by Mr. & Mrs. Cathy) donated $1.9 million to groups with anti-gay agendas like the Family Research Council (FRC), the Marriage and Family Foundation, and Exodus International (a promoter of conversion therapy). Peter Sprigg, of the FRC, is in favor of criminalizing sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex in the U.S.In 2010, the FRC spent $25,000 lobbying congress against H.R. 1064, a resolution condemning Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which includes a death penalty for homosexuality. Why would anyone be opposed to condemning a law that says gay people should die?

In Fall 2012, after a summer of publicity and boycotts and being denied permits to open new stores in Chicago and Boston, rumors spread that Chick-Fil-A was changing its policies. WinShape stopped or decreased donations to some of the more contentious organizations, and Chick-Fil-A issued an internal memo that employees should “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender.” However, WinShape continues to hold fundraisers for anti-gay groups, and Chick-Fil-A still has no corporate anti-discrimination policy.

So, should you boycott Chick-Fil-A? Perhaps the amount of money is small, comparatively. Maybe this isn't enough to get into a twist over. But every time I think longingly of Chick-Fil-A, I realize that if I succumbed, I couldn't respect myself as much afterwards. I believe in what Martin Luther King, Jr., said, that the United States has a network of mutuality, in which injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Boycotting Chick-Fil-A is my own small stand against injustice.