POLITICS
Why is Chick-Fil-A the newest company to be boycotted by far-right influencers?
The fast-food chain’s chicken’s have come back to roost as the company had donated millions of dollars to anti-LQBTQ+ organisations in the past.
Right-wing Americans have taken aim at another company over a two-year old stance at Chick-Fil-A to be an inclusive company.
The conservatives took umbridge with the apparent new hiring of a diversity and inclusion manager. Erick McReynolds, the vice president of diversity, equity, and inclusion, was actually hired back in 2021 according to his Linkedin.
“Chick-fil-A restaurants have long been recognized as a place where people know they will be treated well. Modeling care for others starts in the restaurant, and we are committed to ensuring mutual respect, understanding and dignity everywhere we do business. These tenets are good business practice and crucial to fulfilling our Corporate Purpose,” he had written.
Conservatives took to Twitter to call for a boycott against the company.
Director of Citizens for Renewing America Wade Miller tweeted, “Everything good must come to an end. Here @ChickfilA is stating it’s commitment to systemic racism, sexism, and discrimination. I cannot support such a thing.”
A very normal thing to tweet indeed.
The apparent PR fallout with the alt-right is a big departure for a company that was once the darling of the American right-wing.
Chick-Fil-A’s past with the LGBTQ+ community
In the past, the company’s CEO, Dan Cathy, made public statements expressing opposition to same-sex marriage, which led to calls for boycotts and protests against the restaurant chain. These statements and actions by Chick-fil-A sparked a significant backlash from the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
Cathy mentioned his support for the “biblical definition of the family unit” rather than same-sex marriage, drawing the ire of liberals and inspiring a wave of support from Republicans. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee started a Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day movement which helped inspired a wave of extra sales for the company.
The company announced in 2019 that it would no longer donate to certain organisations with perceived anti-LGBTQ+ views. They stated that they would instead focus their philanthropic efforts on initiatives related to education, homelessness, and hunger.