Will Chick-fil-A face a backlash for not opposing gay marriage?
Gay rights activists boycotted over the company's donations to anti-same-sex marriage groups. Now that Chick-fil-A has backed down, will conservatives revolt?
![A protester waves a gay pride flag outside a Chick-Fil-A restaurant during a nationwide "kiss-in" on Aug. 13.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9dLCKMTUFUYyUKqzLa5Dy6-415-80.jpg)
Chick-fil-A is back in the hot seat over gay marriage. This time, however, the tables are turned. A Chicago alderman, Joe Moreno, announced that he was dropping his opposition to the fried-chicken purveyor's plans to build a new restaurant on his turf, after the company sent him a letter essentially promising to stop donating money to groups who actively oppose same-sex marriage. Gay rights activists, who had been boycotting Chick-fil-A since CEO Dan Cathy said he believed in the "biblical definition" of marriage, cheered. Gay-marriage opponents, however, are furious. Is the chicken chain going to face another boycott over its social policies?
This backlash will be worse than the first: Chick-fil-A faced a firestorm for opposing gay marriage, says Doug Stanglin at USA Today, but that was nothing compared to the fury it's facing now from gay-marriage opponents. They had flocked to the restaurant in solidarity, and now they're crushed that the company has apparently "caved." As one commenter on Chick-fil-A's Facebook page put it, the company now has "a whole new group of people who will no longer support" it.
"Chick-fil-A's 'cave' stirs new backlash"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Maybe liberal businesses should brace themselves: I understand why Chick-fil-A would want to "forfeit their status as a national political lightning rod," says Allahpundit at Hot Air. Still, it's "depressing to see them cave" — and I support gay marriage. Letting liberal politicians "bully" you into withholding money from your favorite political causes "sets a terrible precedent." Maybe now red-staters will withhold zoning permits from liberal business-owners until they take "a solemn vow not to give money to the Left anymore."
Relax. Nothing has changed: Ecstatic gay marriage supporters are claiming victory, says Dave Tombers at WorldNetDaily, but "it appears the facts are that the company's anti-discrimination policy remains just as it was months ago — before the controversy over owner Dan Cathy’s Christian beliefs erupted." Then, as now, the company promises to "treat every person with honor, dignity and respect," and then, as now, it has said it wants nothing to do with politics. Why should the people who flocked to Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day be upset about that?
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Salt Lake City named host of 2034 Winter Olympics
Speed Read The Winter Games are returning to the US for the first time in 32 years
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu makes controversial address
Speed Reads Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to Congress denounced Gaza war protestors
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Twisters review: 'warm-blooded' film explores dangerous weather
The Week Recommends The film, focusing on 'tornado wranglers', stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell
By The Week UK Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published