Employees of Chick-Fil-A, regardless of their personal views, have been caught up in the controversy swirling around the restaurant in the weeks since the company’s Dan Cathy made remarks to a Baptist press outfit reaffirming his company’s stance on gay marriage and marriage in general.
Whether it’s dealing with massive crowds coming out to show support for Chick-Fil-A’s bold and divisive stance on August 1st, or dealing with protesters and naysayers who voice their annoyance to counter workers, Chick-Fil-A employees have shouldered a lot of the heat for Dan Cathy’s statements, and many are finding the situation stressful each day as they clock in.
And in fact, some of those Chick-Fil-A employees themselves happen to be gay. The Huffington Post spoke with one young gay man who has the unfortunate luck of being employed by the chain during the controversy, and he explains how each day, he is forced to wait on people who are patronizing the chain solely due to their feelings about gay rights:
“Andrew, a gay 24-year-old who has been working at the northern Alabama Chick-fil-A since January, sat in his car smoking a cigarette and watching the crowd during a break earlier Wednesday.
“‘I call it hater appreciation day,’ said Andrew, who asked that his last name be withheld out of fear he’d be fired. ‘It’s very, very depressing.’”
Another gay employee echoes the sentiment, in a way that is heartbreaking to read. Each and every day, he is exposed to people who feel free to opine on gay people to him, and being gay, he said it is wearing him down:
“Gabriel Aguiniga, a gay employee at a Chick-fil-A in Colorado, also said the hardest part hasn’t been hearing Cathy’s comments. Instead, ‘[it's] constantly having people come up to you and say, ‘I support your company, because your company hates the gays,” Aguiniga, 18, wrote in an email. ‘It really takes a toll on me.’”
What’s worse is that the employees are absorbing heat from both sides — the site goes on to say:
“On the one hand, there is the customer who came in and said he supported Dan Cathy and then ‘continues to say something truly homophobic, e.g. ‘I’m so glad you don’t support the queers, I can eat in peace,’ the employee, who is 23 and has worked for Chick-fil-A since he was 16, wrote in an email.”
Just because the CEO of Chick-fil-A is a bigot doesnt mean the managers/employees of your local restaurant are. They don’t deserve your hate
— Chris Roman (@chrisroman) August 2, 2012
“On the other hand, he continued, ‘I was yelled at for being a god-loving, conservative, homophobic Christian while walking some food out to a guest in a mall dining room.’”
Since the controversial remarks were made weeks ago, Dan Cathy has not addressed the Chick-Fil-A controversy further.
Look forward to Chick-fil-A introducing their Only Some People Are Allowed to Be Happy Meal.
— Josh Hara (@yoyoha) August 1, 2012
It's not about freedom of speech. No one is saying Dan Cathy can't speak about what he believes in. It's about the hatred and intolerance in his statements, which he tries to mask with religious freedom. 50 years ago, the same type of bigotry and discrimination was used against black people to prevent them from marrying interracially. Hatred, bigotry and discrimination remain a pox on our society, no matter how they're dressed up. [I should also mention that donating to organizations that are strongly anti-gay shows that the company's "morals" are questionable].
He gave his OPINION. The day we cannot voice our opinion without fallback from an angry group is the day the United States will be no longer. Seems like it is closing in more every day.
You are So wrong.
Is he wrong?
How about how the company made record sales yesterday, it slaves it's employees out under EXTREMELY UNDESIRABLE circumstances, and then doesn't give them any kind of bonus.
Minimum wage is OKAY!
Let's rewrite the basic instructions God gave us… Right now.
- If you're Christian, and a CEO making millions, be sure to pay your employees minimum wage, so that they're all suitable for SNAP food stamps and other benefits, that away other tax payers have to pick up the slack.
- If you're a Christian CEO, make sure you judge others if you don't believe in what they do. It's no longer God's responsibility to judge others. Let it be done by man. Man now has the last say in who goes to Hell.
- If you're the Christian CEO, in a Christian based company, that takes off on Sundays to express this – be sure to work your employees to the bone when something happens in the name of something you support. You'll make record sales, they'll sweat their heads off making all your supporters chicken sandwiches ALL DAY at an unbelievable rush. Your company will make RECORD sales that it wouldn't be projected to make even in 10 years. You'll pocket all of that in greed. And hide behind "Christianity".
There, the laws have been rewritten, we can all rest peacefully in bigotry.
How about the freedoms of the gay people to do as they religiously please?
It's just another freedom stripped from man.
Wrong. Free speech means freedom from government restriction on speech, not "nobody can hate me for what I say".
As I said, Dan Cathy has the right to say what he wants. No one is saying otherwise. What many are saying is that he is not free from criticism. Kathy, I'm not certain you know what Free Speech really means if you think opinions can be voiced without fallback. In addition, giving money to hate groups like Focus on the Family and The Eagle Forum places the company at the middle of a political debate on civil rights. Someone needs to buy Dan Cathy a Bible so that he can read it and learn of the 8 forms of marriage therein, as well as the fact that heterosexual marriage is not endorsed over any other form. He will also learn how his god wants slaves to be treated.
Tony Thompson what is wrong with Focus on the family? I love that company. I've been listening to their program since the late 80's. They are a organization helping families. They give seminars on helping families with their finances, becoming better parents, raising healthy children, keeping kids away from porn, etc. That to you is a hate group? Plus when you said someone should give Dan Cathy a Bible, what bible are you reading from? No real theologian would agree with 8 forms of marriage. Ask any Jew or Christian if anywhere in the Bible do they know of 8 forms of marriage. In fact can you show that to me? I'd love to see where you came up with that.
Chik Fil A didn't need to even partake in the debate about gay marriage or speak on gays period. I'm straight but this hetero privilige that we can say anything we want about gay people and demand they not react is ridiculous. If Chik Fil A president revealed anti religious comments and how he was funding organizations that are against religious freedoms, you can be assured the same people waving the Chik Fil A flag today would be massively protesting, and let's not even pretend that wouldn't be the case. Show a little compassion people.