This Friday, LGBTQ folks across the country will be gathering outside Chick-Fil-A restaurants and kissing up a storm as part of National Same Sex Kiss Day, aimed at protesting recent anti-LGBTQ comments by a Chick-fil-A leader and the outpouring of support from restaurant chain-goers.
And what better way to protest? Visibility is a powerful answer to oppression, and in order to show that our love is real and should be fully legal, we are proud to support National Same-Sex Kiss Day.
But this protest is about more than just equality for same-sex couples. Sure, the media has largely focused on Chick-Fil-A’s Dan Cathy’s statements opposing marriage equality and making other disparaging comments about our relationships. That alone is enough to make most of us drive right past Chick-fil-A establishments.
But it gets worse. Chick-fil-A is putting its money where its mouth is, and is not stopping at marriage equality. In 2010 alone, Chick-fil-A’s charitable arm, WinShape, gave $1,974,380 to anti-LGBTQ equality groups. Some of them, like the Family Research Council, support anti-LGBTQ activism and legislation in Uganda that has proven deadly. Others, like Exodus International and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, advocate for abusive “therapies” that try to make LGBTQ people straight through often dangerous practices.
Here at NCLR, we know that’s got to stop, which is why we’re co-sponsoring a California bill that would ban the attempts of unscrupulous “therapists” to change a minor’s sexual orientation. Sexual orientation change efforts pose critical health risks, including depression, shame, decreased self-esteem, social withdrawal, substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide.
It makes us sick that Chick-fil-A is supporting these and other policies that literally prove deadly for LGBTQ people. So for goodness sakes, go kiss someone tomorrow. Give someone a hug. Hold their hand. Anything to celebrate love, because it’s well worth fighting for.