Coming To NYC: Chick-Fil-A Megastore

During the Great Chicken Uproar of 2012, then-NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn demanded that the NYU cafeteria close its tiny walk-up Chick-Fil-A window, which remains the chain's sole outpost in the nation's largest city. But not for very much longer as this summer the company will open its biggest store ever, a three-story 5000sf outlet near Herald Square.

"We are beyond excited about opening our first freestanding restaurant in New York," said Carrie Kurlander, vice president of public relations. "This location will allow us to serve fans who have been asking us to come to New York and to earn the opportunity to serve new customers." She noted that the company is actively working on additional restaurants to open here this year and next. Like its other 1,850 locations, Chick-fil-A’s New York restaurant, which is a franchise location, will not be open on Sundays, as the company "believes all operators and team members deserve a day off," according to a spokeswoman. Of course, only operating six days of a week will make affording the city’s hefty rents a difficult task. The asking rent for the Sixth Avenue space was $450 a square foot for the ground floor, for example. It also remains to be seen how the city’s gay community will welcome the chain.

The Empire State Pride Agenda reacts:

We hope that Chick-fil-A's planned entrance to New York City comes with a side of LGBT-inclusivity and a newly-thought strategy for supporting ventures that are equality friendly. The bedrock of our city is built on diversity and the history of the LGBT civil rights movement took place on our streets; we encourage all new businesses, including Chick-fil-A, to learn from the mistakes they've made and welcome a new era that is reflective of the people they will be serving.

Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy was the daily darling of anti-gay groups throughout the 2012 furor, but last year Tony Perkins labeled him a "coward" after Cathy declared that he was shutting up forever about same-sex marriage.

On Chick-Fil-A & Straight Allies

From Steven Petrow's advice column Civilities in the Washington Post:

Dear Civilities: I was wondering whether you could help my husband and me resolve a marital dispute. We are a liberal Virginia couple in our 30s with a wonderful circle of friends, both gay and straight. The issue is that my husband loves a certain purveyor of chicken sandwiches and waffle fries that has an anti-gay stance. Watching my gay friends have to travel to different states to be legally married, struggle through finding “friendly” judges to approve their adoptions, and generally not have the same marital rights as I have for the past 15 years is enough to make me never step foot into one of the franchises again. My husband, however, loves this place — not for its values, but for the food. Is there any way he can enjoy this particular establishment without feeling guilty? For example, what if he donated an amount equal to what he spends there to a gay rights organization such as the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) every time he patronized this place? Would that be an appropriate offset? — Anonymous

Give us your answer and hit the link to see how Petrow responded.

Headline Of The Day

As we know, Chick-Fil-A is preparing a "massive" launch of outlets in NYC. The right-wing New York Post has found a handful of gays who say they can't wait to eat there.

“I have a healthy fear of the gay mafia,” says William, a gay 26-year-old digital strategist living in Hell’s Kitchen, who asked that his last name not be used due to anxiety over backlash over his choice. “But the crispy chicken is orgasmic. This sounds terrible because it’s fast food, but it’s the most tender chicken I’ve ever had.” William points out that the LGBT community can be rife with hypocrisy. Many bandwagoners on the Anti-Chick-fil-A Express gleefully shop at companies that have conservative execs at the helm — they just haven’t gotten the media coverage (or been stupid enough to tweet their political beliefs). Known past offenders who have suffered far less outrage include Urban Outfitters, Papa John’s Pizza, Exxon, the Salvation Army, Purina and Cracker Barrel. “It would shock you,” says William. “You wouldn’t be able to step out of your house if you boycotted them all.” The result is that some gay men feel ostracized by their own community, unable to express opinions different from the GLAAD-approved agenda.

Brian Brown Doubles-Down On Hypocrisy

"Stay out of New York City. That is effectively the message that a City Councilman named Daniel Dromm has sent to you, me, and millions of pro-marriage Americans — including the millions who already live in the city that never sleeps. And none of us, least of all New Yorkers, can allow ourselves to remain silent about it. What spurred Dromm's remarks? The announcement that Chick-fil-A had plans to expand its operations into New York City. Dromm is one of those intolerant few who still cling bitterly to a misremembered moment in 2012 when Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy was reported in the press expressing his personal belief that marriage is the union of a man and a woman. In Dromm's and others' imaginations, this meant that Chick-fil-A was an 'anti-gay company' and that Cathy and the many thousands who work for him deserve punishment." - Economic terrorist Brian Brown, who for two years has been attempting to punish the many thousands who work for Starbucks and General Mills. Brown is using Dromm's words in a money beg for NOM's coming hate march in DC.

NOM's Dump Starbucks boycott.
NOM's Dump General Mills boycott.

NOM Fumes After Gay NYC Councilman Slams Chick-Fil-A Expansion Plans

"We don’t need bigots coming to New York City. They are not welcome here unless they can embrace all of New York’s diverse community, including the LGBT community. We don’t need bigoted people even keeping their opinions to themselves. They need to wake up and see reality." - Gay NYC Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens), speaking last week to the Huffington Post about Chick-Fil-A's plan to "aggressively expand" into urban markets. Last month Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy announced that he'll be shutting up about gay marriage, doubtlessly in order to smooth the expansion process.

Yesterday NOM president Brian Brown went nuts about Dromm's brief statement.

"These remarks are outrageous and intolerant, and sadly seem to be part of a trend developing in the public debate surrounding this issue. When Dan Cathy's pro-marriage views were first reported in 2012, we saw mayors and city councils saying similar things—it was a disgraceful circus then, and it is now. What Dromm has effectively said here is that anyone who believes in marriage as the union of a man and a woman is unwelcome in New York City. His remarks, coming amidst a climate of such unseemly attacks on pro-marriage people as we saw with the Mozilla controversy last week, simply reinforce a growing manifestation of hostility and intimidation in the public square toward folks with traditional values. Christians and others are now, it seems, going to be considered guilty of 'thought-crimes' and threatened with all manner of reprisals simply for holding their beliefs."

NOM is demanding a "formal apology" from the entire New York City Council. Good luck with that!

Perkins: Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy Is A Coward For Retreating On Gay Marriage

Hate group leader Tony Perkins appeared on the Fox News show of Mike Huckabee yesterday to denounce Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy as a "coward" for backing out of the same-sex marriage issue. Huckabee then laughably denounced the left for trying to "shut down the view" of anti-gay companies, when "nobody is asking the left to do that." Huckabee then called campaigns against anti-gay companies "economic terrorism." Starbucks, General Mills, Kraft, Macy's, Home Depot, and all those other boycotts? Not economic terrorism, apparently.

REMINDER: When major national Christian groups with millions of followers call for boycotts, that is a righteous use of the free market in order to preserve morality, marriage, family, and the American way. But when gay folks call for a boycott, THAT is homofascist intimidation, intolerance, bullying, economic terrorism, a stifling of religious liberty, and an attempt to deny the freedom of speech. And don't you forget it.

Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy On Shutting Up About Gay Marriage: I'm More Wise Now

Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy continued his apology tour yesterday with USA Today.

Cathy, whose comments condemning gay marriage in 2012 set off store picketing and a social media firestorm, has now fully backed away from such public pronouncements that mix personal opinion on social issues with corporate policy. "All of us become more wise as time goes by," he says, apologetically, in a rare, one-hour sit-down interview. "We sincerely care about all people." About two years ago, Cathy made headlines after conceding to being "guilty as charged," in confirming Chick-fil-A's support of the traditional family. Both ardent supporters and angry picketers showed up at stores. While Cathy's comments didn't hurt short-term business — and even helped it — Chick-fil-A executives recognize that the comments may have done longer-term damage to the brand's image at the very time it was eyeing major growth outside its friendly Southern market.

Cathy's change of heart comes as his company plans to launch an aggressive expansion into urban markets.  Last month Chick-Fil-A surpassed KFC as the nation's highest-grossing chicken franchise.

Porno Pete Has The Chikin Sadz

Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy: I'm Going To Shut Up About Same-Sex Marriage

"Every leader goes through different phases of maturity, growth and development and it helps by (recognizing) the mistakes that you make. And you learn from those mistakes. If not, you’re just a fool. I’m thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it. Probably the elements that were stressful for me most is from our internal staff and from operators and how this may be affecting them. The bottom line is we have a responsibility here to keep the whole of the organization in mind and it has to take precedence over the personal expression and opinion on social issues." - Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he regrets having inserted his company into the same-sex marriage battle.  Earlier this month newly-released 2012 tax documents revealed that Chick-Fil-A had cut virtually all of its donations to anti-gay groups.

Chick-Fil-A Slashes Anti-Gay Donations

According to newly-released 2012 tax documents, Chick-Fil-A ended nearly all of its corporate donations to anti-gay groups at the same time that homophobic statements from the company's CEO became national headlines.  Via Josh Israel at Think Progress:

A year after nearly doubling its anti-LGBT giving, Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Foundation apparently reversed course in 2012, eliminating nearly all its grantmaking. Its separate Chick-fil-A Foundation made about $120,000 in grant donations, including about $25,000 to the anti-LGBT Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Between 2010 and 2011, Chick-fil-A’s corporate foundations increased their grants to anti-LGBT groups like the Marriage & Family Foundation and the National Christian Foundation, from $1.9 million to more than $3.6 million. Neither of these organizations received a penny in 2012, according to the foundations’ 2012 Form 990s, publicly available tax documents filed by non-profit organizations. The foundations’ overall spending was roughly even, meaning more of its efforts were focused on its own programs. But the drop from $3,623,938 to $25,390 in anti-LGBT donations represented a reduction of more than 99.2 percent.

Think Progress notes that Chick-Fil-A's corporate giving was slashed for all outside groups, not just for the anti-gay organizations.

January 21st: Chick-Phil-A Day

This event is the work of the teabagger site Grassfire, which is home to numerous bits of hilarious crackpottery, such as their claim that President Obama has ordered unisex uniforms for the Marine Corps.

Chick-Fil-A Has The Supreme Sadz

Chick-Fil-A president Dan Cathy tweeted and then deleted the above message. The company's spokesman has refused to discuss the tweet with the Huffington Post. The current flap is hardly surprising as this is the same man who said, "We are inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.'" (Tipped by JMG reader Birdie)

Chick-Fil-A To Host Medieval-Themed Mother-Son "Date Knight" At 50 Locations

An what seems to be a take on Purity Balls, about fifty Chick-Fil-A locations will host a medieval-themed "date knight" for mothers and sons.

During this special medieval-themed evening, moms and their sons are encouraged to spend some time together while they enjoy dinner, great conversation and several special activities,” the company said in a press release. “Every Mother-Son pair will also receive a place mat with fun questions and topics to get the conversation started, and a take-home booklet that provides ideas for future dates and questions that both moms and their sons can ask each other.” The “special activities” are free, but diners still have to pay for the food. “One of Chick-fil-A’s goals is to promote community connections and enrich the lives of everyone we come in contact with,” Erik Amick, a Chick-fil-A franchise operator, said in a statement.

Presumably those "fun questions" on the place mat will be about the Crusades. Reservations are already full at some locations. (Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

Sarah Palin Promotes Hate Chikin

Teabagistan is doing cartwheels after Sarah Palin attended a Phoenix Suns game wearing a Chick-Fil-A t-shirt. Mediaite ponders her motivation:

Rather than donning the team’s signature orange and purple colors, Palin went with a big cowgirl belt and her favorite fast food chain’s logo on a red shirt. Was this her attempt at showing support once again for the controversially anti-gay marriage restaurant chain? Does it reflect her support for “traditional marriage” in light of the upcoming Supreme Court hearings on the matter?

COUPON DAY: Trade Your Homosexuality For A Free Chick-Fil-A Sandwich

They got their sandwiches!