By Christian Burket
I should start by saying that this article is in no way aimed to attack or debase the late Donald Perry, or to address his political or religious beliefs. What follows is directed solely at those who wish to exploit his death for their own underhanded, homophobic agenda and have levied false accusations at the LGBT community and their supporters.
On Friday morning, July 27, Donald Perry, 60, suffered a severe heart attack and died shortly thereafter. Perry was the public relations executive for Chick-Fil-A for 29 years.
Donald Perry
Recently the company has taken flack for its massive yearly donations to certified anti-gay hate groups and its open opposition to same-sex marriage. Despite the fact that the campany’s anti-gay policies have been known about for years, there has been a recent upsurge against Chick-fil-A, and numerous boycotts.
Now, as you can probably guess, there have been some, on the right, who have correlated this recent public relations firestorm to Perry’s sudden death. Some have even dubbed him as a victim of “leftist homosexual bullying,” asserting that the stress set upon him by the opposition to Chick-fil-A is what lead to his “untimely” demise.
Some have even attempted to draw parallels between Perry’s death and those of gay teens, bullied into suicide — claims which range from absurd to downright repugnant, and that I feel need to be addressed.
For one, any reasonable individual looking at this case will be mindful of the fact that Perry was a 60 year-old male and was not exactly at the peak of physical fitness and health (not to be insulting). It would be quite irresponsible to ignore such factors when levying the cause of his death at other individuals or groups.
Now, speaking of “insults” to this man, I find it hard to believe that a man with three decades of experience in the field of public relations would be of such a frail constitution that he would, quite literally, keel over and die at the first sign of a public relations conflict.
I cannot speak for the veracity of his political views or ethics, but I am certain the man was capable of doing his job as the public face of Chick-fil-A. Yet, many on the right have tried painting him as some sort of hapless victim, unfit for his duties, instead of simply recognizing this incident for the unfortunate accident that it is.
The thing that truly irritates me is how some of these people have disingenuously evoked this notion of “bullying from the gays and leftists,” attempting to equate this man’s death to the thousands of LGBT youth who are both physically and mentally abused by their peers, and often by their own parents, to the point of suicide.
Ironically and unsurprisingly, these are the same people who oppose legislation with provision to protect gay youth from abuse, and they are perfectly happy to look the other way as these kids are ostracized from their families, verbally abused, emotionally neglected, and literally beaten on a constant basis.They lack the empathy or willingness to understand the agony of isolation and constant harassment that LGBT teens face, and how it drives them to the point of suicide — but they are perfectly willing to pretend that this wealthy, 60-year-old, PR executive was “bullied to death” because people wrote angry blogs and emails directed at his company.
I grow tired of addressing the twisted social narrative of oppression that conservative homophobes put forward when they are criticized for bigotry or called out on their misinformation and hypocrisy.
The death of Donald Perry is just one of the countless cases which they have exploited to push this ridiculous narrative, and I have to wonder when it will stop and when these people will finally grow up.
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wow shows how low they will go trying to blame us for it
Oh puleeeze…we get blamed for everything…how ridiculous!!!
just shows how delusional people are.
Very well written. Thank you for this.
Maybe he was in the closet and the stress got to him!
Excellent article- thanks for sharing- again showing how ignorance and bigotry go hand in hand…
Very well written Indeed! You made some amazing points, thanks for sharing this with us.
God took his life – not the gays.
I assume that dude ate A LOT of chick’fil’a!
No but Donald Perry certainly contributed to the suicides of gay youth.
One less asshole eating our food and breathing our air.
And since christians don’t wear condoms I’m sure 500 more will rise up to replace him in a matter of hours.
If anything, this poor man’s boss killed him with his irresponsible PR move. Of course he knew his statements would result in some pretty serious blowback for each and every employee of the company.
I heart the Christian Right’s Orwellian use of civil rights imagery and wording: they are the real victims of bullying and discrimination, don’t you know!
he died from a heart attack not suicide.
typical right wing paranoia and sheer nonsense. the guy died. period. end of story.
Just because he didn’t share our beliefs, you guys are going to consider his death a triumph for the community? I think you guys make your own enemies for the most part. A lot of you are acting like children about this.
The Christian Extremist don’t look at the bulling they do to have young gay people commit suicide but the gay are the reason this man died. These Christian Extremist are just as bad as the Extremist in the middle east who kill in the name of religion and don’t let anyone tell you different.
I agree, Tara, no death should be viewed as a triumph. When people crow about the passing of this man, it weakens our cause and paints us all in a bad light. I harbor no hatred towards any person despite what those on the right love to say. On that note, I wish the family of Mr.Perry comfort and peace in their time of loss.
… B.S.!!!
Are you kidding me? After seeing some trolls carry on his death happily, I see that they are blaming US? That man had no right to die, he should have gotten out while he still can. What a horrible deed done by the owner of the business. EVIL!
Bill Tanner
Did he have a choice? We’ll never know.
I feel bad for Perry’s family, I’m sure he was great with his kids and grandkids, and his loss to them is going to hurt in very tender spots. My prayer is they keep all the good things about him in their hearts, and to remember he’s still with them when they do so.
As for the flying monkey right trying to exploit that family’s tragedy and loss to their own ends, I will tell them the same thing I have told those on the left who are trying to exploit the tragedy in Aurora, CO to push their own radical agenda…
Shame on you! You have just harmed your cause by doing this!
God works in mysterious ways ……………
Well, of course not. I never heard of the man till he died.
if we boycott his funeral the christians could maybe see how it feels when they do it. Don’t really think we should stoop to their level. still like to see how they’d react to that thou.
Same here Don…never heard of him before
Peace to Mr. Perry’s family at this time. – Shame on people insinuating those funding hate groups are the victims of “bullying”.
The one to blame is dan cathy.. the blood is on his hands… in more ways then one
Oh I see….according to these same people, LGBT youth committing suicide has nothing whatever to do with living in a climate of hate, intolerance, and vicious bullying…but when a businessman dies of a heart attack THAT is the result of the LGBT community being intolerant of the fact that he works for a company that funds anti-gay hate groups? Really???
Too much saturated fat from the chicken must have clogged his arteries. No disrespect intended!
just digging your hole deeper .
speaking of bullying, did anyone hear about Andrew Winters at URI? He was bullied out and forced into an agreement, but the administration bought it up as a “smoke screen” that he simply retired, please check out my page in support of him, thank you.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-Winters-Public-Advocacy-Not-Welcome-at-URI/232859493444518