Homophobia in the News

by Mona Shaw

In October, 2018, I wrote WHBF-TV (a CBS affiliate for the Quad-Cities in Iowa and Illinois) meteorologist Ashe Simpson about his chronic promotion of Chick-filet-A and explained how Chick-Filet-A persecutes LGBT people. He said he was sorry it caused me pain, but he liked their food.

I didn’t ask Ashe to stop shopping at Chick-Filet-A. I just wanted him to stop hurting LGBT people. Instead he chose to double-down, promoting the company more often and remarking, “No one is going to stop me from talking about Chick-Filet-A.”

I then posted several examples on the WHBF Facebook page of the harm the company causes LGBT people. I was ignored.

Then on August 12, 2018 I heard a mocking tone and giggling that reinforced the callous attitude toward this pain.  Not only did Ashe and anchor Redrick Terry promote the company. They punctuated their support with these remarks.

“Amen and Hallelujah.”

“Chick-Filet-A can’t do anything wrong.”

“Amen and Hallelujah.”

Chick-fil-A does great wrong that should not be praised.

Chick-fil-A is a Georgia-based fast food restaurant that opened in suburban Atlanta in 1967. The operations of the chain reflect the religious values of Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer S. Truett Cathy, whose biography notes that he has “built his life and business based on hard work, humility and biblical principles.” Chick-fil-A lives these “biblical principles” through its WinShape Foundation, a charitable endeavor founded by S. Truett Cathy and his wife, Jeanette, by donating millions of dollars to groups with anti-gay agendas. In particular, they seek to reverse the 2015 Supreme Court decision, Obergefell v. Hodges, that made equal marriage the law of the nation.

This isn’t petty, nor is it simply a matter of liking a tasty sandwich. Chick-fil-A is reasonably accused of acts of terrorism against LGBT families. If they have their way, loving families would be destroyed, and these families stand to lose benefits and protections that could cost them and their children their lives.

The First Amendment gives everyone the right to be as racist, heterosexist, sexist, ableist, etc. as they the like. It also gives freedom fighters the right to object.

Still, there seems to be confusion about when things are the same and when they are different. Objecting to oppression is not the same thing as perpetuating oppression. Objecting to the destruction of LBGT families is not doing the same thing. The same thing would be if LGBT were attempting to destroy heterosexual families. No one is trying to stop Ashe from marrying his fiancé or to take away legal protections for his family.

We now witness the tragic resurgence of blunt expressions of bigotry.  Mass shootings by white supremacists and homophobes are the outcome of that resurgence.  It is a terrifying time for people of color and LGBT citizens. I have personally stood over the graves of dozens of LGBT people who were murdered by homophobia.  Each death was hooked to a public event in which a prominent person belittled LGBT people.  When you mock someone, you make them a target for those who will use violence against them.

Moreover, heterosexism is unavoidably racist.  LGBT people of color suffer most violently from this oppression. Indeed, the 15 transwomen who have been brutally murdered this year were all Black.

Bigotry isn’t merely a personal belief. It’s a system that has been institutionalized in our societal fabric. This is settled law.  The Supreme Court has legalized Equal Marriage. The states of Iowa and Illinois have added sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes. These laws obligate anyone who does business with the public to scrub institutionalized bigotry from their institutions regardless of personal beliefs.   If not the letter, WHBT breaks the spirit of the law every time staff promote Chick-Filet-A. Each instance creates a hostile environment for LGBT families.

It’s not as if they’re giving equal time to those wounded by this. Perhaps, I missed it, but I’ve also not seen Pride Groups or Events, on “Living Local,” a program about area happenings which Ashe co-hosts. Though evangelical churches get plenty of play. This is not an issue upon which reasonable people can disagree. Reasonable people don’t persecute others based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The most egregious aspect of this is that WHBF is hurting innocent people. Worse, they’ve allowed it to be fodder for humor.  Millions of American Christians do not share this cruel and narrow view. WHBF could learn from them.