By De’Janae Johnson
Staff Writer
I am a firm believer in inclusion. A person’s gender, race, economic status or sexual orientation does not determine how I feel about them. With that being said, my name is De’Janae Johnson, and I am addicted to Chick-Fil-A. I mean, who isn’t?
As a matter of fact, I’m eating a No. 2, no tomatoes of course, with large waffle fries and a medium sweet tea as I write this. You can’t forget the sauce. I catch myself sticking to the two classics, barbecue and Polynesian, although the new Sweet and Spicy Sriracha gives the sandwich a kick you can’t forget.
But Chick-Fil-A has issues, namely its anti-gay marriage stance.
And now that President Donald Trump has signed executive orders on immigration and deportation and has sent a message that he is anti-Muslim, my desire to push back against exclusion has made me reconsider my love for Chick-Fil-A.
I shop and dine with my conscience. Chick-Fil-A, hands down, has the best customer service I have experienced from the food industry.
Of course, they did have a major public relations hiccup back in 2012.
The executive vice president and CFO of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, was on the board of one of the biggest anti-LGBTQ funders in America and stated he only supported heterosexual marriage.
Even though I don’t fall into the LGBTQ community, I do firmly believe that people should have the right to love whomever they please, without fear of judgment. He also stated his opposition to gay marriage.
I go to Chick-Fil-A at least two to three times a week, sometimes twice in one day. Wrapping my head around the fact that my money technically goes into their executive’s pockets who then uses it toward a cause I don’t believe in, is troubling.
But since the negative response from the LGBTQ community and supporters protesting outside of their locations across the country, Chick-Fil-A ceased all financial support for the anti-LGBT groups in 2012.
How can I support a company that doesn’t support many in their customer base, as well as their employees?
Should we blame the entire company for one individual’s choice?
Is it wrong for me to continue to eat somewhere that wants to exclude a part of the population that matters also?
If Chick-Fil-A was still funding the Anti-LGBT groups I would be forced to stop eating there, but until then I’ll just order an Icedream cone.
