In July of 2012, Chick-Fil-A COO Dan Cathy made a public statement praising the institution of marriage between man and woman while condemning those between same sex couples. Such a statement received harsh criticisms from several notable political figures such as Chicago City Counsel member Joe Moreno and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, each of whom hoped to ban Chick-Fil-A from their respective cities. The Jim Henson Company, famous for its creation of “The Muppets”, ended their business relationship with Chick-Fil-A because of their conflicting views on the issue (The Jim Henson Company is pro-gay). Wanting to keep the real reason behind their failed partnership behind closed doors, Chick-Fil-A claimed that they would stop selling toys from the Jim Henson Company because of a choking hazard with the products, although there were never any reported incidents.

Many consumers of the company’s food were unaware of where their money was going until just recently as a more disturbing report was uncovered in early August, revealing that the issue went far beyond a first amendment right. Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization aimed to make college environments safer for LGBT students, released a handout titled “5 Simple Facts about Chick-Fil-A”, which exposes the organization’s funding of hate groups that “aggressively work against LGBT people, advocating for their criminalization, psychological abuse or death” as well as its support of groups such as the Eagle Forum, who consider members of the LGBT criminals, the Family Research counsel, who aggressively points to LGBT members as a threat to young children and has previously spend $25,000 to stop the Congress from ridiculing the “Kill the Gays” policy in Uganda, which proposed that one could be executed if they were homosexual, and Exodus international, which claims to “cure homosexuality” through psychological torture. This also presents an issue to college campuses who are now aware that their grounds house a place where their profits go to these malicious groups. Groups like Campus Pride have begun to try to get Chick-Fil-A off of their campuses. While disagreeing about the correct definition of a proper institution is marriage is not necessarily a despicable act, funding a hate group certainly is. Chick-Fil-A needs to keep their profits from plummeting, retain their positive public view, and try their best to make all parties happy. Although the latter of those objectives may be deemed impossible, one must look at which decision will make the people happy that have the biggest effect on the company’s profits and public image.

One of the possible solutions would be for Chick-Fil-A’s owner and the rest of their upper management to let go of their opinions and accept those of the LGBT community as not trying to destroy their view of what marriage should be. Unfortunately, things are not always so easy and this solution is far too idealistic. One’s views will not change overnight and it is impossible for an entire company to change the morals it has always held with great importance. They would have no real gain from the decision because making the LGBT community and their supporters happy. Chick-Fil-A could also ignore the harsh criticisms that it has been receiving, considering they have not been financially hurt too much by the issue. Responding to the situation, Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, called for a “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day” on August 1 in order to garner nationwide support for the company amidst the controversy. The day was met with critical acclaim with its customers, as over 600,000 people RSVPed to the event Facebook. On this day, the average Chick-Fil-A had approximately 30% more sales than usual. However, this does not mean they have not been receiving loads of negative publicity. Social networking sites such as Tumblr and news sites such as the Huffington Post and Reddit have been among their biggest opposers. A few days after their “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day”, protestors organized a same sex kiss day at Chick-Fil-As nationwide. Many were also urged to take the money that one would spend on a meal at Chick-Fil-A and donate it to LGBT groups.

However, the best solution may be to stop funding these hate groups altogether. Chick-Fil-A has, more likely or not, employed at least one homosexual individual at one point, and those who have been employed by the company should feel secure and comfortable with their workplace. Working for a company that funds groups that wants to strip the aforementioned person of their rights does not accomplish the goal of security in the workplace. Chick-Fil-A should release a policy stating that they do not discriminate their workers based on their sexual orientation. Also, if Chick-Fil-A stops funding hate groups, Mayor Metino and Joe Moreno are more likely to let them open restaurants in Boston and Chicago, the latter of which being more important considering Chick-Fil-A’s desired expansion into the Midwest. By ending the funding of hate groups and creating a policy that forbids discrimination based on sexual orientation, those that work at Chick-Fil-A feel better about their job, they lose the majority of the bad publicity, and can possibly expand to new areas, increasing business.

Sources Cited

Norman, Jan (August 11, 2012). "Franchises can expect fallout". The Orange County Register: p. Business 2

http://www.campuspride.org/chickfila.asp

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shane-l-windmeyer/5-simple-facts-about-chick-fil-a_b_1751404.html

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061147182&srvc=home&position=emailed

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/chick-fil-backlash-politicians-muppets-respond-16857916

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-07-25/news/32853027_1_gay-marriage-biblical-definition-dan-cathy