Business & Tech

POLL: Big Business Pressured To Take Stand On Gay Rights

Chick-fil-A took a stand on gay marriage this week—a trend that may be due to pressure from gay right's advocates.

Pressure from gay right’s advocates may have led the top official fast-food chain Chick-fil-A—which has a —to take a public position on same-sex marriage.

This week Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said his privately-owned company is against gay unions.

Chad Griffin, president of the gay right’s non-profit Human Rights Campaign, said in a released statement Thursday that Chick-fil-A "has finally come clean" after hiding in the closet.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

“Chick-fil-A is headed by a man who is proud of his company’s anti-LGBT giving and has made some extremist statements concerning marriage equality. Consumers now have to decide if that’s the kind of company they want to give their money to,” the Human Rights Campaign statement read.

This week when the Chick-fil-A president declared his company’s “guilty as charged” position on gay marriage, he added, “We’re 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 marriage.”

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Human Rights Campaign and other organizations like it have pressured top government officials and business leaders to state their positions on gay marriage and gay rights, claiming that voters and consumers have a right to know.

Human Rights Campaign currently hosts a website that includes a “Buyer’s Guide” that rates businesses and brands on equality practices. Out of a possible score of 100, Chick-fil-A received a zero from Human Rights Campaign.

Other local restaurants rated by Human Rights Campaign include Starbucks, which received a score of 95; McDonald’s scored 75; Burger King scored 55; Domino’s Pizza scored 35; Wendy’s scored 30; and Jack in the Box scored 15.

Click here to read more about Human Rights Campaign’s scoring model and how it rates other national businesses that have a local presence.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here