Gays under attack

Opinion: August 1, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Lane Filler

Newsday

Lately I’ve found myself on the horns of a deep-fried dilemma. My conscience is taking a Chick-fil-A flaying.

Chick-fil-A is a legendary fast-food chain most densely located in the southeastern states. It proffers a chicken sandwich so good it makes other chicken sandwiches taste like parboiled roadkill.

But the president of Chick-fil-A Inc. and member of the founding family, Dan Cathy, admits the company gives money to organizations that fight equal rights for gay people. So every time I buy a Chick-fil-A sandwich (or rather, three Chick-fil-A sandwiches), a portion of my money is used to keep gay people down.

Right to marry

I support the right of gay people to marry and enjoy the benefits (and agonies) associated with that blissful (brutal) state.

This is generally not a problem for me because while it has been reported that the company is looking to open here, Long Island currently remains a Chick-fil-A wasteland. But last week I visited South Carolina, and the chicken yumminess taunted me. Twice, I gave in.

Chick-fil-A is a deeply Christian, conservative company. Stores close on Sunday. Its mission statement includes the goal of glorifying God. It’s also known for its support of schools, and its clean and pleasant restaurants staffed with cheerful employees. In other words, it’s a mixed bag.

What we don’t know

This isn’t a problem for me because Dan Cathy wants to keep gay people down. It’s a problem because he’s famous enough for the media to track his money. My dry cleaner may support the KKK, the local diner could be funneling cash toward popularizing puppy-skin purses, and my proctologist may be funding an anti-bikini jihad (imagine the evil).

But how would I know?

I’ve done business with folks who support bad things. We all have, from the big banks, oil companies and agricultural monoliths to the tiny businesses we trade with. My air conditioning repairman, when I lived in South Carolina, loved cockfighting. Cockfighting is abhorrent, but in the South, a relationship with an AC repairman who shows up promptly when you call, hysterically begging for help as your family melts into fleshy carpet puddles, is sacred. He could have taken mid-repair naps in my bed and I’d have let it slide.

Boycott

But I do believe in voting with my dollars.

The extent to which I need the people I trade with to agree with my political views is iffy, but I definitely don’t want to give cash to folks who will use it to trounce liberty. If I had it to do over, I wouldn’t have spent money at Chick-fil-A last week.

But more offensive than Cathy’s contributions are movements to keep his company from opening branches. In Chicago, Alderman Joe Moreno has vowed to block Chick-fil-A from opening its second location in the city, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel is backing him. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino says he will make it “very difficult” for a branch to open.

Cathy has every right to open stores, and residents have the right to stay away, or flock. They can speak with dollars. In trying to ban that conversation, these city leaders are far bigger enemies of freedom than Dan Cathy.

Lane Filler is a member of the Newsday editorial board. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.