Friday, July 20, 2012

No gay boy scouts or chicken

Two bigoted restatements in one week. I am not surprised, even though I thought the first one would be different.

The powers that be at The Boy Scouts of America, mainly Mormon and Catholic white men, decided after two years of thinking about it that they will continue to ban gay people in any role within their organization.  I have tried to pay attention to this story a lot and didn't know how active the Mormon church is within the BSA.

Such a sad statement for an organization that teaches young people.

I was thrilled to read today's Denver Post editorial which agreed with me. My favorite part of their opinion was this: "But having the right to bar gays and actually doing it are two different things. The right does credit to our freedom, but the ban reflects a dated intolerance. If the group truly wants to return to its roots, it should reconsider and lift the ban."


And as soon as this news digested, the head of Chik-Fil-A, a chicken fast food place that I guess is popular, made it clear that he does not support gay marriage. His statement is backed up by the over $5 million his company has spent supporting anti-gay groups.

"We are very much supportive of the family - the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that," President Dan Cathy is quoted as saying. (from CNN)

Of course we're vegan, so I wouldn't step near one of those places anyway. Now gay people, and anyone who supports equality, have another reason not to go to Chik-Fil-A.

I also want to share what Mike, my husband, posted on his Facebook page about this:
Do you eat at Chik-Fil-A? If so look at what you are supporting. For those of you that don't know when you get to who they support Exodus International is a group that does Reparative therapy (making someone who was born gay deny who they are and become "straight". It doesn't work I can tell you from first hand experience). I was involved with this group in college. Not something I would want anyone else to go through. Please do not support their barbaric and hateful practices by eating at this place.
I'm curious as to how many folks will choose not to go to Chik-Fil-A because of this. And then I started thinking of a bigger picture. How many people who are in the meat industry support equality for gay people, like marriage equality. In driving around ranch country in eastern Colorado, it's rare to see signs promoting gay friendly candidates.

I could go on and on. I could even delve into the issue of why communities who are attacked financially support their attackers. But don't worry. I'll save that for another post!

Thank you very much for reading my blog!

3 comments:

  1. I find it interesting that they took it even further to include divorced people as well (see line "married to our first wives"). I am so glad that we are all such sinners and not worthy! Thank you for posting this information. It's good to see exactly what was said and done. Shame on both groups for their prejudice!

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  2. Shame on these organizations - way to teach our young children acceptance of others and equality of all living creatures. *sarcasm*

    Thanks for this post - we need to get the information out there.

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  3. Boing boing posted this incredibly heartwarming stories about Eagle Scouts returning their medals to the Boy Scouts of America in protest of the continued ban. It made me tear up a little. http://boingboing.net/2012/07/23/eagle-scouts-stand-up-to-the-b.html

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