Chick-Fil-A

The CEO and member of the founding family of Chick-Fil-A gives an interview to a Baptist religious newspaper, in which he declares his opposition to changing the traditional definition of marriage to encompass same sex couples. This is not new or surprising, given that CFA closes on Sundays because of management’s belief that the employees should be in church.


The story is picked up by national media. Then things get interesting.

Within 24 hours, headlines like “Head of Chick-Fil-A Takes Antigay Stance” appear. This is a case of the mainstream media deciding “If yer not fur us, yer agin us.” You can be opposed to redefining a social institution that has persisted for thousands of years without caring one way or the other about individuals’ sexual orientation. Tolerance does not necessarily require approval.

Then the mayors got into the act. The mayors of both Boston and Chicago publicly stated that they would oppose the opening of any Chick-Fil-A stores in their cities, solely based on the political opinions of the owners. These guys espouse a belief in diversity, as long as it doesn’t include anybody who disagrees with their opinions.

Now, I can pretty much guarantee that both cities have permanent trade representatives in Beijing, and that both mayors have participated in trade missions to China. Part of their job is to encourage investment in their respective cities.

So they would welcome investment from an authoritarian regime that suppresses dissenting views, but they are discouraging investment from an American company whose owners disagree with them?

Birds of a feather flock together, I guess.