There was a huge colon-clogging, gizzard glutting eat-in at Chick-fil-A on Sunset and Highland Wednesday for the Mike Huckabee-called, frothy Rick Santorum-embraced, Sarah Palin-endorsed, Rush Limbuagh-hyped “National Chick-fil-A Chick-fil-hAte Appreciation Day.” Two lines of cars snaked into the drive through ordering stations, backing up traffic onto Sunset Boulevard. I wish I had been able to take a snapshot of the woman in a nose job bandage eating a frozen dessert cone as she drove out. Very L.A.

The parking lot was full, and there were more people in line and on the patio than I had seen cumulatively in all the years I had driven by the deep-fried food scented corner.  Groups holding a rainbow flag and pro-LGBTQ signs stood on the corner with two (female) LAPD officers who were very nice. The protestors were out-numbered by the gluttons easily 1:10.

I had listened to rush Limbaugh this morning and he was reading reports that Chick-fil-hAtes all over the country were full of customers. But in LA? Yes, people do eat fast food here, and this is one of two  Chick-fil-hAtes in the area; the only other one in Los Angeles proper is near USC.

I think many people were driven to sample Chick-fil-A by the mistaken belief that this is a “free speech/freedom of religion” issue, not a matter of a for-profit corporation funneling money into a non-profit corporation which in turn donates to organizations like Focus on the Family and Family Research Council–groups which themselves have called for religious-based boycotts of Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, the Super Bowl, and Girl Scout cookies.  The Chick-fil-A  corporately funded foundation, WinShape also donates to Exodus, which until this year focused on “praying the gay away” as an ex-gay ministry, and has since publicly claimed they will no longer do so.

It remains to been seen if today was just a one day curiosity glitch driven by media, or if Chick-fil-hAte just tastes so darn good people can’t resist it. (It smells yucky to me).

YouGov/Brand Index reports:

Chick-Fil-A’s perception with fast food eaters nationwide has taken a significant hit in most regions of the US, including the South where most of its restaurants are located, since president and COO Dan Cathy’s perceived anti-gay remarks on July 16th…

As the controversy has snowballed, the company’s overall consumer brand health with fast food eaters has dropped to its lowest levels since at least mid-August 2010…

On July 16th, the day the Baptist Press published its Dan Cathy interview, Chick-Fil-A’s Index score was 65, a very substantial 19 points above the Top National QSR Sector average score that day of 46.

Four days later, Chick-Fil-A had fallen to 47 score, three points below the Top National QSR Sector average score of 50. This past Wednesday, Chick-Fil-A had a 39 score compared to the Top National QSR Sector average score of 43.

YouGov BrandIndex respondents in the South took Chick-Fil-A from an Index score of 80 on July 16th to its current 44. Chick-Fil-A’s biggest drop took place in the Northeast, where it went from 76 to 35, a difference of 41 points.

Friday, August 3 is National Same-Sex Kiss-In at Chick-fil-hAte. Grab a same-sex pal, your same-sex lover, or whomever and show that you support equal rights by kissing at your local Chick-fil-hAte. To quote Gore Vidal:

We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.

It’s time for allies to step up, too. Straight people have LGBTQ family, co-workers, friends so we too

must declare ourselves.

The time is now.

Frothy Rick Santorum opened wide and embraced Mike Huckabee’s “National Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” claiming that for the left:

There can be no dissent from what their position is.

Kinda like conservative Christians’ position on marriage equality and ENDA. And LGBTQ overall, because the conservative Christians feel there can be no dissent from (their interpretation of) God’s word. Think Progress sums it up:

The rise of the Christian Right is due for a 40th anniversary to mark the appropriation of Christianity by conservatives like Pat Robertson, Phyllis Schlafly, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and Ralph Reed. This coalition of mostly evangelical Christians, Catholics, and Mormons has largely succeeded in reducing the cultural definition of being Christian to those who share their beliefs. The present-day ravings of faux-historian David Barton seek to push even farther and erase the religious diversity at the heart of American patriotism. The “culture war” over LGBT equality presents one of the clearest dividing lines, with anti-gay talking heads like Tony Perkins over-dominating the media on behalf of “Christianity” while LGBT-affirming Christians are severely under-represented. [emphasis mine]

Santorum, who spoke Thursday on CNBC, further confused the issue of the interpretation of religious texts by saying

“This is why the Huguenots came to America,” Santorum said, adding the Dutch Reform Church and Catholics to that list.

“They didn’t want the government telling them what to believe and that they couldn’t say things in public, that they had to keep it to themselves,” he said, or be “barred from doing business.”

America was founded by dissenters, that’s true. Some were Catholics, some were Jews who played vital roles in the Revolution,  some were from various Protestant sects.  Let’s not forget the Freemasons! Various interpretations of  God’s word/s, as evidenced by the differences between the Torah, the Catholic Bible, Masonic texts, the various Protestant translations and heck, even the Book of Mormon indicate that there’s a lot of room between the letters. And at one point or another the foundational Christian groups, the Catholics and Protestants, imprisoned, tortured and killed dissenters, including other Christians along with Jews, which is why they all bailed to America and other places. And Mormons were massacred by people calling themselves Christians.

America also has a free market, and if people don’t like how business donates profits,  they don’t have to spend their money there.  Chick-fil-A corporate donates to WinShape, the Chick-fil-A family charitable foundation, which in turn funds anti-LGBT organizations. Some of these organizations have themselves called for boycotts of businesses who beliefs run contrary to what is claimed by specific groups of  Christians to be traditional Christian/Biblical values.

Focus on the Family, which received funding from WinShape, has urged boycotts on businesses and groups which support LGBT rights, including the Disney companies (since lifted), Kraft, United Way Charities and Big Brother/Big Sister, Proctor & Gamble, and most recently, the 2010 Super Bowl. What LGBTQ and their allies are doing by urging a boycott of Chick-fil-hAte is the exact same thing that Family Research Council, which received funding from WinShape, did this year when they promoted boycotting Girl Scout Cookies.

Goose/gander.

LGBTQ and allies are not calling for a boycott because Dan Cathy is a Christian. Or even a mean jerk.  The boycott is because corporate funds from Chick-fil-A are being funneled to his foundation. A percentage of these tax-free funds goes to support organizations which promote anti-equality measures and also call for boycotts of other groups with whom they disagree. If Cathy wants to fund these groups, he should use his own salary, not money that comes from his corporation which is sheltered in a tax-free foundation. We all spend our earned money how we choose; we choose to whom we donate, where we spend our paychecks.

In other words: This is not about “free speech” or “freedom of religion.” Or about how Dan Cathy chooses to spend his corporate salary. It’s about a corporation funding a tax-free organization that in turn donates to groups that support hostility and oppression.

Oh, and if Richard Nixon had to confront LGBTQ issues, he’d repeal DOMA and EDNA–remember, he’s the guy who passed the EPA, OSHA and affirmative action.  So take that! you GOP-presidential wanna-bees Huckabee, Santorum, and Ms. Palin.

Sarah Palin’s only grandson–the spawn of failing reality television arriviste Bristol Palin and fellow Wasillabilly fame-scrambler Levi Johnston–three-and-a half year old Tripp Palin called his Aunt Willow a word beginning with F  (either a usually pejorative term for gay men, from the English schoolboy slang for a younger boy who does errands for older students; or the Anglo-Saxon verb for copulation. A production exec who claims he was in the room and watching the video feed pre-bleep claims the latter). Tripp also says

I hate you.

A lot.

With his pedigree and language skills, the adorable, yet poorly disciplined tot would be the perfect replacement for the Muppets who have stepped away from their gig as Chick-fil-A spokespmodels in light of the corporate fowl fryer’s ‘tude. CEO Dan Cathy said:

But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles. So that is what we claim to be. [We are] based on biblical principles, asking God and pleading with God to give us wisdom on decisions we make about people and the programs and partnerships we have. And He has blessed us.”

(Jesus was never quoted in the Gospels as calling LGBT sinners, or defining how people should behave in the privacy of their bedrooms. Jesus overturned all the Old Testament rules–except the Ten Commandments, one could argue–allowing those who believe in him to wear blended fabrics, get tattoos and eat bacon. Paul, who came along after Jesus ascended to Heaven and never knew him, as those to whom Gospels are attributed did, is an interpreter and evangelical rather than a firsthand-ish reporter whose stories where compiled after the fact.)

Burt and Ernie’s pals are standing up for everyone, gay and straight, who is appalled by Chick-fil-A, and not just because of the utterly vile, sub-literate spelling of

filet.

While the word may sound like a sexualized pun rhyming with gay

fill-lay

spelling it

fil-A

is neither cute nor clever. Just stupid.

The company’s dumbing of America continues with their economic war on LGBT via the Chick-fil-A charitable arm WinShape (as if dining on Chick-fil-A  gives you a winning shape) donating close to $2million to anti-LGBT groups, beyond the marriage equality battles:

In 2009 alone, WinShape donated $1,733,699 to multiple anti-gay groups:

• Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199
• Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000
• National Christian Foundation: $240,000
• Focus On The Family: $12,500
• Eagle Forum: $5,000
• Exodus International: $1,000
• Family Research Council: $1,000

[Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11]

Mike Huckabee–who has been beating his breast about the abuse  Chick-fil-A has suffered at the hands of the media and the Muppets while ignoring the loathing and lack of equality funded by the food chain–has declared August 1st “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” and via Facebook his media onslaught is encouraging people to eat the cholesterol-dense, high-sodium, sugared, MSG-laden fast food. Because he loves America.

There’s also a push to make August 3 National Same-Sex Kiss-In Day at Chick-fil-A, which has some pros and cons. First of all, same sex couples would have to go inside a Chick-fil-A. And all us straight people can do is either find a willing co-kisser, enter a Chick-fil-A to applaud the kiss-in, or keep boycotting some place where we’d never eat anyway.

And if you’ve been wondering what you might be missing by never sampling a gay-hating, heart and soul destroying fast food sammich, here are two chemical-free versions you can try at home,  very gay friendly. But still fried after being battered with  sugar and salt. Part of me thinks natural ice cream might be healthier.