Celebs may not quite be lining up in person at the picket line to protest Chick-Fil-A's donations to anti-gay groups, but they certainly are speaking up on the issue when prompted.
At the opening celebration for Into The Woods in Central Park's Delacorte Theater last Thursday, I chatted up out LGBT stars like Cynthia Nixon, Alan Cumming, and Denis O'Hare, all of whom gave a hearty "hell to tha no" to Chick-Fil-A's stance on gay issues. They didn't really want to bite into the chain's fried chicken, either.
Though the former Sex and the City star's statements on her sexuality have sometimes been unclear, Cynthia Nixon spoke in no uncertain terms about Chick-Fil-A. "Never!" she exclaimed when asked if she'd ever step foot in the fried chicken chain. "People who are against other people's civil rights, I have no interest in their chicken. No chicken!"
Despite being an out-and-proud gay man myself (yes Facebook.com/LittleGay is me), I played devil's advocate, telling Cynthia to consider the possibility that it were the best chicken ever. "I don't really think that Chick-Fil-A perhaps is the best chicken you can have --even if it were, I could have a slightly less auspicious grade of chicken in order to protect other people's, and my own, civil rights."
In the straight-ally corner, Homeland star Mandy Patinkin held down the fort. "I don't want to help anyone who doesn't help everyone's rights," said Patinkin, keeping it epic. "Freedom, justice and dignity for all humanity are the most important things on this planet. For all humanity."
He continued: "There is no one on this planet that will not be connected to someone in their family who is gay. If you don't protect everyone's rights now, one day your son, daughter, nephew, granddaughter, grandson will not have their rights, and then it will be too late. Plus there's better chicken to be had."
Where at? "My favorite was KooKooRoo Chicken [in L.A.]," said Patinkin, "And I heard that they went under. I'm quite sad about that."
After the fabulous play, we chatted with True Blood's Denis O'Hare, who starred in the New York City summer revival as the Baker with Amy Adams as his wife. Said O'Hare of Chick-Fil-A:
"Two reasons: number one, I don't eat shit. Number two, keep your opinions to yourself. If you're going to be in business, be in business. If you want to be a proselytizer, be a proselytizer. But business and politics don't mix, so you will never see my sorry ass in
a Chick-Fil-A. [With this, the out actor does a sassy snap.] Nuh uh!"
Echoing his sentiments was fellow out man-of-the-theater Alan Cumming;
"It's not just about freedom of speech. Bigotry is not included in freedom of speech, to me. When people are giving money to actively persecute other people, I think the public should know about that and shame them. This whole "freedom of speech" argument is absolute shit."
So there you have it: Celebs hate Chick-Fil-A. Do mere mortals feel the same? Have your say in the comments.
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