Chick-fil-A’s Distasteful Stand on Marriage

by Aaron McQuade

Earlier this month, when the public learned that fast-food giant Chick-fil-A would be sponsoring an anti-marriage equality event organized by the anti-gay Pennsylvania Family Institute, blogger Jeremy Hooper from Good As You did some digging and found that the company is also involved with the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).

A few days went by, with supporters of marriage equality in an uproar – and this week the company responded with a video from president and COO Dan Cathy on the company’s Facebook page.

Dan Cathy’s statement from Chick-fil-A on Vimeo.

This requires a little bit of clarification – see, where Dan says “marriage has long been a focus of Chick-fil-A” he apparently forgot to specify “marriage— for some people.”  And when he says the company treats every customer “with genuine hospitality,” he neglected to add “…but not with genuine respect.”

Chick-fil-A is sending a clear message to its customers that it will happily take your money and give it to anti-gay groups like NOM or the Pennsylvania Family Institute, whether you like it or not.

Speaking as someone who was born and raised in New England, I had never even heard of Chick-fil-A until I was in my twenties.  But for many people, including my friend and colleague, GLAAD Media Field Strategist Justin Ward – this is very personal.

As a little boy growing up in the Bible Belt of southwest Virginia, Chick-fil-A had me at hello. So did a man named Matthew, my best friend and loving partner of nearly four years now.

If only the two loves weren’t at constant odds with each other; but as we know, sometimes love ain’t easy.

With all the demands of our busy lives, fast food is supposed to be easy, the drive-thru perhaps the last place on earth where a person expects to encounter an existential crisis. Incorrect order fulfillment, yes, but certainly not a slap in the face of one’s greatest hopes and dreams – in my case, that I one day be able to legally marry the person I love most in this world, perhaps even provide a loving home to a child who doesn’t have one.

As someone whose idea of a good time is driving the 45 minutes it takes me to get to the closest Chick-fil-A in Paramus, NJ; as someone whose mother always drives me to Chick-fil-A upon my plane landing in Virginia; and as someone who has spent the better part of 28 years loving Chick-fil-A with all my heart and trumpeting the company’s numerous good works, it’s incredibly disheartening to see Chick-fil-A making headlines for supporting organizations that work hard to maintain marriage inequality.

I can only imagine how I would feel, if I learned that Town Hall Lanes in Johnston suddenly started proudly donating money to anti-gay groups.  (That was my favorite bowling alley growing up – and thankfully, it’s also a supporter of Marriage Equality Rhode Island.)

Chick-fil-A’s customers need to know exactly what’s happening to their money after they walk out the door or pull away from the drive-thru.  That money is going right into the pockets of groups who are fighting against marriage equality.

That’ll leave a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths.

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NOM Targets Rhode Island

By Advocate.com Editors

The National Organization for Marriage's Rhode Island chapter has launched a six-figure media campaign to fight a new and promising legislative push for marriage equality in the state.

A new ad attacking pro–marriage equality governor Lincoln Chafee was scheduled to air Tuesday as part of a $100,000 television campaign, The Providence Journal reports. Last week lawmakers reintroduced bills that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

"Lincoln Chaffee [sic] got just 36% of the vote in the recent election," NOM-Rhode Island executive director Christopher Plante said in a statement. "Our message is that getting 36% of the vote is no mandate to redefine the institution of marriage for all of Rhode Island society.

"If legislators in Rhode Island wish to redefine marriage, they should put this issue on the ballot where the people themselves can decide if they wish to abandon one of the most fundamental institutions of society,'' Plante said.

The first ad, posted to YouTube, has since been removed, however.

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BREAKING: NOM produces (part of) its long-awaited 2009 tax returns

By kevin.nix

Following our trip to the National Organization for Marriage office yesterday asking for their 2009 tax returns, we can report this afternoon that the organization was compelled to hand over a hard-copy of its  c (4) Form 990.  My colleague Dan Rafter went asking for it. And got it here.

The Form 990 is the tax return NOM is required to submit to the IRS.  NOM dated its 990 November 14, 2010, yet did not disclose it publicly until today when it gave an HRC representative a hard-copy of the tax return.

We haven’t had a chance yet to cull through it with a fine-tooth comb but here’s an observation regarding the group’s donors. Most of the $7.1 million in revenue in ’09 came from a few very large donors.  These donors could be individuals or corporations. Here is how NOM’s top donations break down.

1.   $2,475,000

2.   $1,230,000

3.   $1,100,000

4.   $400,000

5.   $150,000

Running the numbers, this means that 3 wealthy donors contributed 68% of their total donations; 4 donors gave 73% and 5 donors gave 75%.

These figures reinforce what we and others (Fred Karger) have been saying: the National Organization for Marriage does not represent some sizeable (or even small) grassroots constituency. The only “constituency” they represent is that of a few anti-gay folks who have a lot of money. NOM’s reluctance to make their tax returns available publicly is par for the course in their pattern of secrecy and shadowy dealings.

On Monday, January 3, HRC went to the Washington, D.C. NOM office and asked for a copy of its 2009 990 for both its (c) 3 and (c) 4 organizations. Video of the exchange is here. On Tuesday, January 4, HRC went back to the office and obtained a hard-copy of the (c) 4 990. It appears NOM did not provide us with a complete return.

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BREAKING VIDEO: National Organization for Marriage has to produce tax returns by midnight tonight

By kevin.nix

Building on Fred Karger’s work on the National Organization for Marriage, we went over to NOM’s office this morning to ask for their 2009 tax returns for both their (c) 3 and (c) 4. I asked the individual who answered the door (video below) if I could get a copy of their returns for 2009. He said they were posted on the NOM web site. We did not see them on that site. They have posted their 2008 and 2007 returns; nothing for ’09.

According to IRS regulations, any non-profit organization (which NOM is) has to produce its returns if asked for in-person on the same day of the request. This means the National Organization for Marriage has until the end of the day to give them up.

If they don’t make public their Form 990: (a) the organization is subject to a $20 per-day penalty for every day it fails to respond, with a maximum penalty of $10,000; and (b) public disclosure noncompliance can be filed with the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division.

If NOM doesn’t produce their ’09 returns by midnight tonight, they will be violation of IRS regulations that govern every other nonprofit organization.  NOM is no exception. We’ll see what happens, but withholding tax returns from public view indicates, yet again, a strange need operate secretively and cover up who their donors are.

We’ll be updating as the story develops. Video of this morning’s exchange:



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