McGay Marriage

In a clear case of “no good deed goes unpunished,” fast food megagiant McDonalds’ recently donated $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), purchasing a seat in the organization’s board of directors and, accordingly, a leadership role in gay rights advocacy.  In return, they’ve reaped a whirlwind of hate in the form of a boycott by the American Family Association, supported by still other organizations with suspiciously Orwellian names.

McDonalds, as a business, is probably purely considering the economic case for diversity: namely, that if you treat people like humans, they’ll buy stuff from you, as Massachusetts discovered.  Diversity, nondiscrimination, and tolerance are good for the soul, and the pocketbook, and that McDonald’s purchased partial control of the NGLCC just proves their intention to leverage the positive PR for profit.  But since fundamentalists have decided to take this – like everything else in America – personally, it begs the question…

Are these people really so offended by everything and everyone that countermands their literal, intellectually shallow reading of the Bible, that they must boycott a burger joint for just trying to play the good guy, and make a cheap buck in the process?  Must they win the culture war on all fronts, lest their heads explode?

Apparently, yes.  Comments at the boycott organization’s website bear out the proposition that some take an endorsement of gay marriage as an almost visceral insult:

Please reconsider! Our family of six has enjoyed your food for years but can not continue to do so knowing that our money is going towards your new cause. We urge you to continue being a place where traditionally wed families feel comfortable.

As if knowledge of support for gay marriage were, in itself, nausea inducing.  A tip for unnamed family of six – might it just be the grease-soaked burgers?  On this point, McDonald’s is right to accuse the boycott group of being “motivated by hate.” Conscientious objection to gay marriage on the grounds of its newness is one thing, but discomfort at the thought of gay marriage suggests that the spectres of bigotry, xenophobia, and intolerance are at work here.  The rhetoric of “comfort” conjures analogies to segregation – separate water fountains and separate train cars to preserve the delicate sensibilities of the ruling class – rather than reasoned policy debate.

This is hardly the first time the culture wars have expanded to the corporate governance front: for a decade, ending in 2002, Cracker Barrel faced both praise and disgust for adopting a policy that affirmatively discriminated against gay Americans.  It took a swarm of contradictory SEC letters, barrels of lawyers, a minor revolution in the law of corporate democracy, and a shareholder revolt to force Cracker Barrel to concede and add sexual orientation to the company nondiscrimination policy.  If McDonald’s now faces a similar controversy, at least history is on management’s side – and at least the religious right is consciously not putting employment issues into controversy this time (the group’s site disclaims any interest in changing McDonald’s employment practices).

By trivializing the boycott as mere bigotry, I do not intend to play down the significance of McDonald’s decision to endorse gay rights groups.  Quite apart, this is a major step – that corporate giants are recognizing the monetary case for diversity suggests mainstreaming and normalization of gay rights advocacy.  California & Massachusetts – which, I hasten to remind you, hasn’t blown up yet – may be the snowballs that start the avalanche of equality, or the tip of the wedge that finally breaks apart intolerance.  Regardless of the metaphor, I’m lovin’ it.