SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic - KFC more gay friendly than Chick-Fil-A

Posted: Aug 01 2012 01:56 am

Don't know what everyone's views are on the chick-fil-a topic but you have to admit, this is priceless.

Wizard Joined: Jun 12 2009 Posts: 4209

Whoa, I don't think they would be that blatant about it.

Is that real or a photoshop?

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Clearly a photoshop.

Wizard Joined: Jun 12 2009 Posts: 4209

Oh, I see it now.

I don't bother paying attention to that crap, I really should.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 07:41 am

Chick-Fil-A is soooo gooood. It's hard to care about their record when the batter for the sandwiches is as awesome as it is.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

There's not many Chick-fil-A's in the Chicago area, so I haven't been to one yet. There's a new one in a nearby suburb, so I've been meaning to go there, especially because I like waffle fries in general.

There's plenty of KFC's in the area, and I love them. I'm totally in the mood for some buffalo snackers.

I really don't understand the backlash against Chick-Fil-A. They're not doing anything illegal, as they don't have hiring practices that are discriminatory towards gays, nor are they treating gay customers badly. The CEO just stated an opinion that approximately half the country agrees with anyway.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 12:29 pm

Cattivo wrote:

I really don't understand the backlash against Chick-Fil-A. They're not doing anything illegal, as they don't have hiring practices that are discriminatory towards gays, nor are they treating gay customers badly. The CEO just stated an opinion that approximately half the country agrees with anyway.

I agree with this statement. I don't necessarily agree with their views, but in America I hope we can all agree that they should have a right to those views. I do hear their chicken is very good, but I have yet to try it.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Aug 01 2012 01:21 pm

You have the right to say what you want. You don't have the right to say what you want without repercussions. You say something that ticks off a lot of people, they're gonna use their free speech right to yell right back.

Also, I'm not really sure half the country agrees with the views. I'm pretty sure that on this issue at least half the country falls right into the "Doesn't-give-a-shit" category. I'm one of them - even though I'm not a fan, I don't care enough about it to actively oppose it since it doesn't affect my life at all.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 01:23 pm

Cattivo wrote:

The CEO just stated an opinion that approximately half the country agrees with anyway.

Huh? You think half the country believes this:

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to try to redefine what marriage is about."

No, half the country does not agree with that.

Cattivo wrote:

I really don't understand the backlash against Chick-Fil-A. They're not doing anything illegal, as they don't have hiring practices that are discriminatory towards gays, nor are they treating gay customers badly.

It's not just his opinion that has upset people. It's the fact that he donates millions of dollars to lobby groups to stop the legalization of gay marriage in multiple states across the country. He and his company are very active in getting laws in the books that define marriage as between only a man and woman. His company donates to anti-gay causes across the nation. So no, he's not doing anything illegal, but if someone is opposed to oppression of marriage equality then they don't want the money they spend going towards causes like this. The backlash is absolutely justified because Cathy and Chick-fil-a are active in the anti-gay movement.

Also, people misunderstand what Freedom of Speech is. Yes, you have the right to your views. Go ahead and say whatever you want, the government will not stop you. The GOVERNMENT. That's what Freedom of Speech means. However, there can be consequences to what you say. People boycotting a business is not infringing on the business's freedom of speech. It's exercising their own.

Wizard Joined: Jun 12 2009 Posts: 4209

Klimbatize wrote:

Also, people misunderstand what Freedom of Speech is. Yes, you have the right to your views. Go ahead and say whatever you want, the government will not stop you. The GOVERNMENT. That's what Freedom of Speech means. However, there can be consequences to what you say. People boycotting a business is not infringing on the business's freedom of speech. It's exercising their own.

I would like to compare this to the equal rights movement for black people, especially in terms of where Martin Luther King Jr. was involved.

It took them a while and a lot more effort, but they did it, and through non-violent methods to boot. I would argue that it's similar for gay people now, except the difference between hetero- and homosexual people isn't as obvious as the difference between white and black people. The ability to detect them by sight is non-existent, and so discriminating against them and trying to draw a difference between them and whoever is doing the discriminating is much more difficult than it was for those who didn't like black people.

My point is, more people are in support of this in general because it's hard to be branded as a gay person by sight, and to be branded as someone who associates with them. And, the general attitude of the nation at this point is a lot more open minded than the country was 50 years ago...

The oldest members of society generally hold more sway when voting because they're more interested in it than the younger people, like myself. I don't give one fuck about voting this year, and I have the ability to, for instance. But as the older, more generally conservative members of society continually die throughout the year, their voting power diminishes and is gradually handed over to the people following them, who have a different idea of what it means to be old and conservative.

And even with all of this, the distribution of information by the internet makes it a lot harder to convince people of a certain view, even if they are sequestered from big cities where news travels fast and the opinions are many. I've seen many people my age that are motivated to vote for a certain person, but only because of one issue at a time. The issue this time happens to be gay rights, and it's taken the nation by storm because more people have access to general information about it outside of what other, more biased people tell them.

Well, now that I've made a mess of myself...

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Klim, I would say an equal amount of people are both pro & anti gay marriage. Whether that's 45/45 with 10 undecided, or 50/50, or what, I don't know.

Regarding the donation to anti-gay marriage causes, people are free to use their money as they wish, as long as it's not in support of illegal activity.

Klimbatize wrote:

Also, people misunderstand what Freedom of Speech is. Yes, you have the right to your views. Go ahead and say whatever you want, the government will not stop you. The GOVERNMENT. That's what Freedom of Speech means. However, there can be consequences to what you say. People boycotting a business is not infringing on the business's freedom of speech. It's exercising their own.

Usa is right that there are repercussions to free speech. If people want to boycott the restaurant, that's their right, just as it's people's right to have an "Appreciation Day" for the restaurant today, as people are doing. However, the major story over Chick-Fil-A is government officials, namely the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco, speaking out against the restaurant. When Mayor Emanuel and aldermen try to deny the expansion of the restaurant in Chicago based solely upon the CEO's political beliefs that is a violation of the first amendment and would result in costly litigation for the city - a city that is deeply in the red.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 03:03 pm

Look, there's clearly only two possible ways to resolve this issue. Either exterminate the gays or exterminate the chickens. Obviously they cannot coexist.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 03:05 pm

Of course people are free to use their money as they wish. I was reacting to you saying you don't understand the backlash.

And I still disagree that half the country agrees with Cathy's quote, which is the one that has grown the most fire, by far. Sorry, not even close to half the country believes we're shaking our fists at God and will incur his wrath over gay marriage.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

That statement is a bit of a stretch, I admit, heh. Probably only hardcore evangelicals agree with that (along with those deplorable Westboro people, as mentioned in another thread). The country seems pretty divided on the issue of gay marriage, though, with a gradual move towards support.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

Klimbatize wrote:

Sorry, not even close to half the country believes we're shaking our fists at God and will incur his wrath over gay marriage.

Well it's not like Fundies are a huge minority, there are likely millions in the USA who believe that. But half of the country? That's a pretty big stretch.

My parents and relatives are very religious, but far from the kind of people who would support this. I don't know a single person that I interact with that is in support of Chik-Fil-A, and I live in rural Virginia.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 03:21 pm

The last national public opinion poll I could find on gay marriage was from June.

The split was 54% in favor, 42% against.

Higher than one might think, but not half.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

That's a big swing, I remember the polls being closer. I would have thought it was more like 52/48 in support as of late. I'll do some Gallup searching if my workload at the office allows.

Edit:
It appears to be all over the place. According to a May 8th poll by Gallup, it was 50/48 support: http://www.gallup.com/poll/154529/Half-Americans-Support-Legal-Gay-Marriage.aspx

Yet after Obama's announced support of it, it went to 53/39 in support, according to a May 23rd, Washington Post/ABC poll: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/23/1094178/-Support-for-gay-marriage-rises-to-53-in-poll-with-big-increase-in-African-American-support

It appears that either the president has had an effect on public opinion, or it depends upon the polling samples, or some combination of the two (I've noticed polls oversampling democrats and undersampling independents & republicans as of late, most notably in a Quinniapac/CBS/NYT poll released today: http://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2012/08/01/polls_obama_up_big_in_three_key_states_but ).

Posted: Aug 01 2012 04:59 pm

I think we all know that polls are just bs in general. You don't even have to look far to realize that, just look at this year's Forum Battle.

Posted: Aug 01 2012 05:04 pm

It also depends on the question asked. In the poll I cited, the question was: Do you think gay marriage should be legal in your state?

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Aug 01 2012 08:57 pm

Cattivo wrote:

However, the major story over Chick-Fil-A is government officials, namely the mayors of Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco, speaking out against the restaurant. When Mayor Emanuel and aldermen try to deny the expansion of the restaurant in Chicago based solely upon the CEO's political beliefs that is a violation of the first amendment and would result in costly litigation for the city - a city that is deeply in the red.

Wrong-o. A municipality has the right to regulate what kind of businesses operate within its borders, for any reason (insert standard discrimination biolerplate here). It's no different from a city not allowing a strip club or card room to set up shop within its borders. Your first amendment rights do not include the right to sell chicken.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

There has to be a legitimate reason, though, or it opens the city up to discrimination lawsuits. There's already rumors about a lawsuit here in Chicago, and the Chicago GOP (with obvious motives) has already taken it upon itself to lodge a complaint that argues that the alderman behind the proposed block of Chick-Fil-A expansion in the city is violating Illinois human rights law regarding religious freedom and freedom of speech: http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/14154509-418/gop-wants-probe-of-attempts-to-block-2nd-city-chick-fil-a.html

It's equivalent to denying a business from expanding because the owners support gay marriage or are gay themselves. Either way, it's wrong, and illegal. Welcome to Chicago, where we block new jobs such as these as our debt balloons, because they don't represent what the mayor says our "values" are, but our murder rate has risen to top the first world and there's certainly no shortage of morally questionable establishments such as strip clubs. I guess murder & lap dances are part of "Chicago values" then.

Mayor Emanuel has already begun dialing back his rhetoric, and I imagine partly because he realized his statements could be construed as opening up the city to litigation.

Posted: Aug 02 2012 11:23 am

The mayor of Boston wrote a letter to Chick Fil-A, which he then posted on the city's Facebook page, in which he tells them they're not welcome in Boston:

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/701887/thumbs/o-BOSTON-MAYOR-CHICK-FIL-A-LETTER-570.jpg?4

Seems like that could have legal repercussions.

Joined: Apr 14 2006 Location: Lake Michigan Posts: 3332

Hmm, interesting. As a result, I just searched and found this article saying that Boston's mayor backed off those statements (while asserting his own, personal freedom of speech, not as the mayor), which I again would assume would be because of lawsuit concerns: http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-27/metro/32869124_1_political-science-gay-marriage-chick-fil-a-stance

Posted: Aug 02 2012 11:31 am

Good, let them get sued. Let's make this a bigger issue so more people will get involved and realize just what is going on here--people being discriminated against. I like that politicians are speaking out for civil rights. It's good to see some elected officials with some semblance of balls. I'm glad Obama didn't play it safe and finally vocalized his support for equal marriage rights for all citizens, and I'm glad some mayors are speaking out against bigotry. At the end of the day I'm sure none of them will do anything that will warrant legal action against their cities, but at least they're expressing their opinions. Too many people are afraid to come out against hate for some reason.

The anti-gay movement is rooted in bigotry. This is a civil rights issue and I wish more people would drop the "I don't care either way" approach because their fellow citizens are being treated differently based on nothing they can control. It's no different than judging someone based on race, disability, or gender.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Aug 02 2012 12:17 pm

Klimbatize wrote:

The anti-gay movement is bigotry. This is a civil rights issue and I wish more people would drop the "I don't care either way" approach because your fellow citizens are being treated differently based on nothing they can control. It's no different than judging someone based on race, disability, or gender.

I think when it comes to rights, most people are firmly in support of gay people not being denied them. But marriage isn't on that spectrum in my mind - you don't have the right to marry someone because you're attracted to them. I'm not foolish enough to believe the "man-dog marriage slippery slope" thing, but there are several restrictions on who you can and can't marry and you could make a decent argument against most of them.

I don't think that's going to be the prevailing view for long, if it even is now. I just know that the handful of same-sex married couples I've met haven't brought brimstone raining down or mass panics in the streets. It's really, really, just not that big of a deal. I think mostly people are just attaching some sort of sacred significance to the M-word.

I think South Park nailed it with their "Butt-buddies" thing. People are fine with gay marriage, they just really don't want to call it marriage.