The Muppets

Michael Medved and I probably do not agree on much of anything, but I have to agree with him on one thing- boycotts are rather stupid at this point. Oh, Medved makes a whole bunch of arguments about Constitutional rights and such in this clip from The Ed Show, but for me it boils down to the fact that boycotting a multinational corporation or any business with more than, say, three stores is just never going to work.

Here is The Ed Show:

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Medved makes several incorrect statements in there. The Cathys and their business have donated to the Pennsylvania Family Institute and the National Organization for Marriage. They have also donated to Exodus International, a group that pushed the torturous attempt to change people’s sexuality.

The Daily Show two days ago also did a wonderful take not only on Chick-fil-A, but also the Boy Scouts:

Stewart made a wonderful notation that the definition of marriage in the Bible is kind of odd.

As for the decision to block a Chick-fil-A in Boston, it should be noted that, given Cathy’s statements, it would probably be a good idea not to open one in Massachusetts. Or Vermont, for that matter. While a chain may not be hurt by a boycott, an individual store can be.

Some locales are pushing against Chick-fil-A, though. The Civil Rights Agenda is informing us that Alderman Moreno has decided to block a Chick-fil-A from opening a store in his ward of Chicago, and Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has stated that “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values.”

Anthony Martinez, the executive director of TCRA, stated “We applaud the statements made by Alderman Moreno and Mayor Emmanuel regarding Chick-Fil-A. Diversity has made this city great, and we have some of the strongest protections for LGBT folks in Illinois. The statements made by Dan Cathy show that this restaurant has no place in Chicago. We will continue to work to ensure that Chick-Fil-A is not welcome in this city until they see the value of acceptance and diversity, and they make that clear in their company policies.”

The TCRA went on to say:

The Civil Rights Agenda has been working with Alderman Moreno and Chick-Fil-A since February. TCRA aided Alderman Moreno in creating a list of specific items that needed to be addressed if they wanted to move forward with opening a restaurant in his Ward. Those items included: an LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policy, diversity and cultural competency training, parity in employee benefits that included benefits for couples in civil unions and domestic partnerships, appropriate and respectful advertising in the LGBT community, transgender inclusive health benefits, and rejection of any activities that would undermine the goal of equal rights for LGBT people. Additionally, TCRA has been working to ensure that the locations of other proposed stores are known and are working with elected, city and state officials to call attention to the discriminatory nature of this company.

“The Civil Rights Agenda has been working for months with Alderman Moreno and Chick-Fil-A on LGBT issues,” said Jacob Meister, President of The Civil Rights Agenda. “Although we have been speaking directly with Chick-Fil-A’s senior level executives, we have not made any progress with regards to LGBT inclusion in their discrimination policies. We will continue to press the company to adopt LGBT specific measures in their company policies, and, until they do, we will use every avenue available to ensure they are not able to open any more stores in Chicago or Illinois.”

TCRA will be partnering with other LGBT and allied organizations and individuals on a statewide campaign that will ask Chick-Fil-A to adopt LGBT workplace protections and anti-discriminatory policies.