The following column was written by a member of The Pendulum staff and represents the views of one individual, not the entire staff.
Chick-fil-A and same sex marriage: two terms that have no reason to belong in the same thought, yet have been at war for the past two months. Both sides—those who support same-sex marriage and those who support the fast food chain—have exhausted the issue. And this is not coming from a neutral source: I am a member of the LGBTQ community.
It is no secret that Chick-fil-A has historically sided with traditional family values, so it should have come as no surprise when Dan Cathy, president and chief operating officer, said on the record that he supports the “traditional family,” which means no gay marriage. Yet to millions across the country, this was either an unwelcome surprise or a breath of fresh air.
The controversy hit close to home at Elon when Spectrum, the university’s queer-straight alliance, proposed legislation to remove Chick-fil-A from campus on the grounds that the franchise contradicts Elon’s discrimination policy.
While Spectrum’s proposal was briefly suspended pending further consideration of Chick-fil-A’s spending practices, the fact of the matter is, it never should have been proposed.
As a gay student at Elon, I am well aware and accept that Chick-fil-A does not support the rights that I deserve. What I do not accept is Spectrum feeling the need to push their opinions down the school’s throat.
I wholeheartedly agree with The Pendulum’s stance on this issue because Chick-fil-A is a business that is entitled to its own opinions. It is my personal decision to not eat at Chick-fil-A. I have friends that feel the same and friends who do not, but by no means does it change my opinion of the franchise.
If I were to go around worrying about everyone who does not agree with me, nothing would ever get done, and I would have no friends. It is comparable to the fact that I have friends who are voting for Romney, and by no means do I believe they have any less belief in my rights than I do.
As someone who identifies as gay, I understand that it is only a part of myself, albeit a major one. I am able to put that aside, though, in order to see the Chick-fil-A debacle has gone on for far too long.
I would rather associate myself with a group that practices acceptance rather than preaches it, and accepts rather than attacks. The LGBTQ community needs to realize it was not Chick-fil-A that declared “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” — rather, it took no stance on the issue. It was politicians such as Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann that brought out the dynamite, and the LGBTQ community proceeded to ignite it. The reaction to the passing of Amendment One did not even come close to the animosity felt toward Chick-fil-A, which should be a sign that our goals should be reprioritized.
To the LGBTQ community, shouldn’t we be turning our attention to the government, who has the power to give us what we want, and not a business that has always lived by biblical standards?
If Spectrum were to remove Chick-fil-A from our campus, it would not be looked upon as a major step towards LGBTQ rights five years from now. It would be seen by the majority of the student population as losing chicken sandwiches.
I had Chick-fil-A for the first time in eight months this past week, and it tasted the same as it did eight months ago. Because that meal is not the symbol or martyr that we are looking for. It is a chicken sandwich.