The
Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual,
and transgender civil rights organization – staged a protest outside of a
Chick-fil-A food truck in downtown Washington, D.C. last week. Nearly 30
HRC supporters gathered in front of the food truck to pass out fact
sheets to customers and raise awareness about the millions of dollars
the company has donated to anti-LGBT organizations.
Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy has embraced his fast food chain’s
anti-LGBT discriminatory donations, declaring “guilty as charged” when
questioned about them in a recent interview and even saying that
supporting marriage equality was akin to “inviting God’s judgment on our
nation.”
“HRC is sending a loud and clear message to Chick-fil-A: we will not
rest until your consumers know that you take their money and hand it
over to groups that actively work to demonize LGBT people,” said HRC
Vice President of Communications Fred Sainz. “Consumers should have all
the facts about Chick-fil-A’s anti-LGBT history, and then make informed
decisions about whether they want to continue to support a business that
proudly touts its connections to discriminatory groups. Organizations
and elected officials from the Jim Henson Company to Boston Mayor Thomas
Menino have already spoken out against Chick-fil-A’s practices – we
look forward to hearing other fair-minded companies and organizations
follow suit.”
Late last week, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino released a letter
explaining why he could not support Chick-fil-A in his city; Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel soon followed suit and agreed that Chick-fil-A’s
discriminatory practices didn’t have a place in Chicago. The Jim Henson
Company also has severed business ties with Chick-fil-A.
Pictures from the protest are available via HRC’s Flickr stream.