The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has rushed to the defense of Chick-fil-A following renewed criticism of the company’s support for anti-gay causes. On Saturday, NOM president Brian Brown announced that July 25 would be “National Eat at Chick-Fil-A Day,” writing:
Imagine the potential impact of the message that companies favoring the radical redefinition of marriage risk fallout with their customers—combined with the message that heroes who stand for marriage and family cannot be silenced!
Imagine how clearly that message would be heard across the nation if Chick-fil-A reported record sales this Wednesday!
Well, let's not just imagine it—let's make it happen. [emphasis original]
A few days earlier, NOM’s Ruth Institute blogger Jennifer Thieme published a vocal defense of the company, saying of spending money at Chick-fil-A, “this harms whom, exactly?”
The problem is that Chick-fil-A isn’t just “standing for marriage” -- it has financially supported a number of groups that directly harm and demonize LGBT people. Over the past several years, through its charitable arm the Winshape Foundation, Chick-fil-A has donated to groups like:
- Family Research Council: an anti-gay hate group that promotes the myths that LGBT people are unhealthy, likely to engage in pedophilia, and capable to being cured of their homosexuality
- Exodus International: an umbrella ministry that has repeatedly promoted the myth that same-sex attractions can be cured or reduced through “ex-gay” therapy
- Alliance Defense Fund: a legal organization that fights against protections for LGBT people, calling it the “principal threat to your religious freedom”
- Fellowship of Christian Athletes: an organization that has allegedly “freed” people from homosexuality and requires ministry leaders to pledge not participate in the “impure lifestyle” of homosexuality
Chick-fil-A’s history of anti-gay donations makes the announcement of NOM’s “Eat at Chick-fil-A Day” especially significant. NOM’s opposition to marriage equality is a given, but asking supporters to give money to a company that uses that money to promote “ex-gay” therapy and paint LGBT people as pedophiles goes way beyond merely taking a “stand for marriage.”
