Bigotry Appreciation Day

Some photos from the event near me yesterday:

Some 200 people were standing outside in line, and I have no idea how many cars…they were winding around the block. Police officers were directing traffic. I parked across the street and walked over to have a look around, and noticed several people with the same idea– not just walking away with bags of Chick-fil-A food, but multiple bags. Each one looked like he or she was getting food for an entire family. My own appetite was gone– the sight of so many people happily, gleefully showing up to support the donation of over $5 million to groups that not only want to prevent gay marriage but make homosexuality illegal again turned my stomach. I’d thought I might go somewhere else and have a chicken sandwich, but even that didn’t sound like a good idea anymore. 
Every last person I saw was white and rather affluently dressed, and arrived in a nice car. Nobody looked as though a lightness of their pocketbook was forcing them to come here– quite the opposite, in fact. Poor Chick-fil-A has been “attacked” by people who believe in marriage equality choosing not to eat there anymore, so by golly it’s time to eat some chicken and show those non-homophobes what’s what! 
Two of my favorite tweets from yesterday:
But my favorite explanation of why the word “bigot” is appropriate for the people in those pictures above comes from Jen McCreight:

So you were just called a bigot I know your feelings are hurt. No one wants to be called a bigot, right? But before you do something silly like scream “FREE SPEECH” or say I’m the bigot, let’s rewind a bit. Chick-Fil-A has funneled millions of dollars toward certified hate groups in order to fund campaigns that depict gay people as pedophiles, fight against “gay behavior” and the legalization of same-sex marriage, and support dangerous “pray away the gay” programs. They also used their profits to support Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” bill. When I first found out about these atrocious things a couple of years ago, I stopped eating at Chick-Fil-A (despite how much I love their delicious chicken sandwiches). I did not feel right knowing my money could ultimately be used to hurt GLBT people. I could originally understand why someone wouldn’t boycott an organization that they disagree with politically. I bet there are things I buy that support things I hate, mostly because I don’t know any better, partially because I can’t financially afford to boycott everything. But now that Chick-Fil-A has been in the public eye, you know better. And if you drove to a Chick-Fil-A today to show your solidarity with the organization, you’re not just some random apathetic person who likes a chicken sandwich and doesn’t care about where their $5 goes. You are a bigot. You are saying “I agree with Chick-Fil-A’s anti-gay stance!” And your irrational hatred of gay people is bigotry at its finest.

No, it stemming from religion matters not at all. Religion-based bigotry is still bigotry.

No, Dan Cathy didn’t simply express support for marriage between members of the opposite sex (as if it needs supporting– who is trying to get rid of that, now?). His company has condemned gay marriage and actively fought against gay rights in general.

No, nobody said he doesn’t have the right to believe and say that. If you ate at Chick-fil-A out of some misguided belief that they did, and his right to free speech needs to be supported, your money would have been more appropriately donated to the ACLU.

No, you aren’t standing up for freedom, justice, and equality. You’re buying fast food to support a multi-million dollar corporation which opposes those things. Congratulations.

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