Atlanta-originating chain restaurant Chick-Fil-A (CFA) has been in the news a lot recently, and most of it has been our continual coverage of the company’s long history of homophobia and the subsequent protests and outrage stemming from that.
Chick-Fil-A shocked everyone, however – including us – when the family-owned corporation’s COO announced out of nowhere that it would no longer donate to the anti-LGBTQ causes it had proudly supported for years before, which included the Salvation Army and Exodus International. In fact, the company announced new beneficiaries of its large annual donation pledges, which now include pro-LGBTQ groups.
Related: Remember, Chick-fil-A isn’t LGBTQ-friendly yet
So now, what of those boycotts?
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Well, gay social network Hornet conducted a survey in conjunction with LGBTQ Nation to learn more details about those protesting Chick-Fil-A, and the results came in before news broke of Chick-Fil-A’s planned roundabout on homophobia.
Here’s what we got:
900 people answered the Hornet/LGBTQ Nation survey in total – 496 responded they are currently boycotting CFA (55.1%). Of those 496 people…
– 245 say they were CFA customers before the boycott (49.40%) / 251 say they were not customers beforehand (50.60%)
– 84 say they have eaten at CFA since they started boycotting (16.94%) / 412 say they have not (83.06%)
– 417 say there is a CFA franchise near them (84.07%) / 39 people say there’s not (7.86%) / 40 say they aren’t sure (8.06%)
– 21 say they’re vegetarian (4.23%) / 475 say they’re not (95.77%)
While the nearly 500 people claiming to boycott the chicken restaurant seems encouraging, many of them weren’t likely to voluntarily go to CFA anyway, such as the near-16% that are not near a franchise or unsure of where the nearest one is, and the 4% of vegetarians that already generally avoid it.
While 17% admit that they have snuck in a chicken sandwich meal every now and again, that number may very well be higher in actuality. With the added information that CFA is trying to denounce its homophobic history, those numbers will definitely be different in a few weeks or months. Once more, conservatives are boycotting the company they long championed, with the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz claiming they are ‘extremists’ for supporting the Southern Poverty Law Center among other non-homophobic entities.
Whether you’re a member of the LGBTQ community that will still stay away from any homophobic place, or someone who has been or will continue to eat wherever they can get the food they like, companies like Chick-fil-A will continue to strive. After all, they earned over $10 Billion in revenue last year alone, averaging a whopping $4.6 million per franchise across the country.
See some social media commentary around Chick-fil-A of late below:
saw this today… chick-fil-a REALLY wants us to know they’re no longer donating to anti-lgbtq orgs pic.twitter.com/dgHAjDMJgC
— elizabeth clayton (@elizardbethc) November 21, 2019
All the ppl saying Chick-fil-A "betrayed" them by being marginally neutral to LGBTQ+ folks for the first time in basically ever are admitting that religion for them is strictly an excuse to dictate what others can or cannot do based solely on their own belief system.
— Steph, Satanic Communist Cheese Curd Tycoon (@RantsByDesign) November 29, 2019
"Centrists": We are free speech absolutists who believe it is wrong to cancel someone for disagreeing with you, and think you shouldn't intervene in the free market.
Chick-Fil-A: So we're gonna stop donating to homophobic groups.
"Centrists": *GASP* Let's boycott them, guys! https://t.co/glrWcYxUy7— Dragonarchist (@communarchist) November 27, 2019
I don’t have strong feeling on the Chick-fil-A thing, but I find it a bit sad if they abandoned the Salvation Army because of the urging of a bunch of people who like to yell and scream but were never going to help the homeless.
— Frank J. Fleming (@IMAO_) November 28, 2019
If you only had this much passion when Donald Trump called your wife ugly
— Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) November 28, 2019