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Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he’s learned lessons from his corporation’s participation in the fight against marriage equality, and that he’s made the wise business decision to stay out of it completely:
As the same-sex marriage debate rages, one person says he won’t be weighing in on the subject anymore: Dan Cathy, CEO and president of Chick-fil-A.
Almost two years after he made headlines by throwing his support behind traditional marriage and later decried a pair of Supreme Court decisions that favored same-sex unions, Cathy hasn’t changed his mind. But he said Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A has no place in the culture wars and regrets making the company a symbol in the marriage debate.
“Every leader goes through different phases of maturity, growth and development and it helps by (recognizing) the mistakes that you make,” Cathy said. “And you learn from those mistakes. If not, you’re just a fool. I’m thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it.
[…]
The company tried to extricate itself from the controversy by repeatedly asserting it does not discriminate against customers or employees on the basis of sexual orientation.
“Probably the elements that were stressful for me most is from our internal staff and from operators and how this may be affecting them,” he said. “The bottom line is we have a responsibility here to keep the whole of the organization in mind and it has to take precedence over the personal expression and opinion on social issues.”
Joe also reported that Chick Fil-A seems to have ended virtually all its giving to anti-gay organizations in 2012.
Of course, extremist hate group figures like Bryan Fischer have such one-track minds, unable to focus on anything besides the eradication of the “homosexual menace,” that they can’t comprehend why a business leader would make such a wise decision. Instead, in the mind of Fischer, Cathy has been “battered into submission and silence by the Gay Gestapo”:
No, Bryan. The only thing that’s being battered here is Chikin, after which it is fried and served with a pickle and put on a bun. Cathy made the decision that’s best for his corporation. Neither he nor you are victims, in any way, shape or form.
