With all of the recent debate surrounding Chick-Fil-A and Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino's stance on the issue, the one thing I really can say at this point is that deciding who to put my trust into as an LGBT community member is becoming harder and harder. Human rights are not open to debate. LGBT rights should not be a popularity contest, but I fear that it is exactly what this issue is becoming.
On Tuesday July 24th, I awoke to find that I had been tagged in an image on Facebook. Upon further examination, I realized that this image was of a letter written by Mayor Menino to the President of Chick-Fil-A, urging him not to set up a location in Boston, Massachusetts.
First off, let me say that I DO NOT support the views of this company and I do not wish to see one here in Boston.
I enjoy the fact that the mayor of Boston is sticking up for a community that is so near and dear to my heart. In a time where people are becoming very vocal about their stance on LGBT rights and equality, it is nice to know exactly who is an ally and who isn't. As the mayor mentioned in his letter, Massachusetts was the first state in the country to recognize equal marriage rights, and on those grounds, I understand Menino's wish to not support a business with such intolerant views.
What I don't necessarily agree with is him taking it upon himself to ban said restaurant chain from the city. While he is entitled to his opinion, I do not think it was necessarily 100% professional of him to put this message under the entire city of Boston's name and letter head. I don't believe that he has the right to tell a business not to open its doors, and I wonder if an opposite circumstance (such as a gay bar opening up) would generate the same kind of response from him if the majority of the Boston public were opposed to LGBT rights.
Politics are a popularity game, whether people want to see it that way or not.
Menino would have caught an exponentially larger amount of flack from the LGBT people of Boston if he had NOT sent this letter in an attempt to stop the chain from opening simply because he has been so supportive of our rights in the past.
In fact, Boston's mayor is not the only politician to take such a public stance on this issue.
Similar situations occurred this week in Philadelphia and Chicago. One person from Chicago commented saying that a representative taking this stance is, "turning around and being intolerant and discriminatory because somebody has a different view than he does."
In response, 1st Ward Ald.Proco "Joe" Moreno said, "The intolerance of an organization and then my lack of acceptance of that intolerance is not hypocrisy," he told the Tribune. "That's sophomoric thinking."(Read more here: )
I honestly need to think about a lot of things before I jump on the Mayor Menino Anti-Chick-Fil-A bandwagon...
I don't like that this is where we currently stand in America right now. As a society, we are taking our values and putting them in places where they simply don't belong.
THIS IS FUCKING FOOD, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!
I understand that protesting a chain is supposed to hurt the wallet of the big man and blah blah blah... I personally do not support the views of this anti-LGBT food chain, but the issue here is really much larger than eating or not eating a fucking chicken sandwich. Honestly, I'm mad about it. Where I choose to eat should not affect how I'm viewed as an individual, and I feel that a food chain's political or religious views should not be advertised if they are hateful or discriminatory in nature. This just proves that we're giving too many irrelevant people and organizations the power to control the minds of our citizens. I understand completely that by me supporting LGBT rights, and then supporting the mayor's decision to "bully" a business out of coming to Boston doesn't make sense.
I know that I am not the only one with an opinion like this, and I have even encountered a few people who are genuinely angry with the Mayor of Boston's decision... A close friend of mine and fellow co-worker at UNregualr, KC Hoye, has some very strong opinions on the subject. People have misinterpreted her outlook and viewed it as hateful or unjust, but I think she has some valid points worth reading. I know for a fact that KC is someone who supports LGBT rights and marriage equality. (Read more:)
As I said earlier, I do not wish to see one of these chains opened in Boston, but in Mayor Menino urging the business not to open its doors here, he is also denying the people their right to decide for themselves. I believe 100% that if a Chick-Fil-A were to come to Boston, they would be met with a great deal of opposition from our citizens.
So am I supposed to just support this man taking on such a personally meaningful cause, or do I let myself look like a potential asshole and say that I'm not buying it just quite yet? ... I'm torn.
If anyone has any legitimate idea where we go from here, I'd like to hear about it. Everyone is so quick to judge, but no one ever has a plan to fix anything. Anti-LGBT anything is a foreign idea to me and the entire issue makes me sick to my stomach. I know what I stand for, and I believe that anyone who matters also knows what I stand for.
I'm also upset that Chick-Fil-A is lying to its customers about what is going on with the Jim Henson Company. Their toys are not unsafe or defective, they simply want nothing to do with a biggoted company, and can you really blame them? The situation as a whole disgusts me, and we're at a point where we can still make a difference if we stand together and stand strong.
Discrimination & intolerance are unconstitutional.
Bottom line.
In order to really make a difference, I honestly feel the best way to go about dealing with this situation would be to completely ignore the chain as a whole. Setting foot on their grounds and blatantly disrespecting their views makes us no better than them to begin with. It is a childish game that we're playing as a nation, and I'm looking forward to the day when everyone opposed to LGBT rights wakes up and realizes that this was never their battle to be fighting in the first place. I commend the Jim Henson Company for donating the money they have recieved from working with Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD and I think more people and organizations should follow this lead. The best way to affect a company is to take your money elsewhere.
Peace, love and equality,
Jackie Soriano
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