by Kathy Drasky
Why is an anti-gay chicken sandwich trumping the rights of same-sex binational couples? Do gay people love our fast food more than we love our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?
Last month, the popular Chick-fil-A chain, owned by a good, upstanding Christian family with a last name that’s a first name (Cathy), wandered into that minefield of American debate – separation of church and business – and promised to donate free sandwiches and brownies to a Pennsylvania-based anti-gay marriage group. While the Cathy family insists “We're not anti-anybody,” and dismiss reports of a homophobic agenda as “folklore”, they have not pulled out of their commitment to feed the bigots.
This has led to at least two groups launching anti-Chick-fil-A petitions on Change.org, the Internet’s leading site for social change that “empowers people to take action.” A high percentage of the people who need empowering are LGBT. I know, because an organization I helped launch, Out4Immigration, has been using Change.org to get out our message – equal immigration rights for same-sex binational couples – for the past 3 years.
Over the past week, I’ve watched as the petitions urging LGBT people and our families, friends and supporters to stay away from Chick-fil-A and remove Chick-fil-A from college food courts have garnered more than 30,000 signatures. This is an astounding response when matched against Out4Immigration’s own petition to reintroduce the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in the 112th Congress. The UAFA petition has been on Change.org since mid-January and has barely 500 signatures. (Read more on OpenSalon.com)
Note: This story originally appeared in OpenSalon.com.
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1 comment:
Trying to shame the LGBT community is not a way to have them support the cause. I am amazed that more people have not joined the UAFA cause. I do believe there are so many protests and causes to support that are good, people sometimes get overwhelmed.
UAFA is part of the immigration issue that is a hot topic in itself. The LGBT community comes down on both sides of that argument. Rather than shaming us, try to educate us.
I am a supporter of Out4Immigration and UAFA. I am a natural born citizen and have not been personally effected by immigration issues - outside of living in...yes...Arizona. I do try to keep up with issues however many people do not keep up with issues that do not personally effect them. Unfortunate but true.
The fact that Chick-fil-a gathered more signatures just means you need to work harder on educating not shaming.
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