The Chick-fil-A company has announced it will no longer donate to anti-LGBTQ organizations. None of the news stories I've seen today (like this one) really say why other than to suggest the firm is eager to expand into areas where an anti-gay stance might make them unwelcome. They sure seem to be opening or building a number of new outlets in the Los Angeles area. Some of the reports suggest caution, saying the company has proclaimed this before and not followed through.
I ate at Chick-fil-A a few times before their stance became known and notorious. I've eaten there twice, I think, since…once because I was in an airport and famished and it seemed to me to be my only option, once when I was in a hotel and just plain too exhausted to walk much farther than the Chick-fil-A next door. I thought the food was pretty good for what it was and did not feel even a smidgen of Liberal Guilt.
Then again, I've also avoided them for that reason and, to be honest, because the ones I drive by always have too long a line at their drive-thru window. Or sometimes — and this is true — I think, "Hey, I'll be driving past Chick-fil-A. Maybe I'll stop in and pick up a sandwich"…and then I realize it's Sunday and they aren't open.
My attitude on things like this has long been that if it makes you feel uncomfy to give your money to a business because of something like this, fine. Don't. But don't think you're making a real contribution to the cause of fairness to LGBTQ rights and don't think you're part of a movement that will bring the fast food chain to its knees. Based now on the fact that Chick-fil-A seems to want everyone to stop thinking they donate to anti-gay efforts, maybe I need to rethink that second point. Maybe it has made a difference…