Kissing In Front Of Chicken Eaters: Not The Best Protest Method

Let's be honest: LGBT Americans are too small a part of the population to pose any serious threat to Chick-fil-A's free speech or financial success.

The recent boycott against them was never to shutter their mouths or restaurants, but rather to end their donations to rabdily anti-gay hate group through public shaming—that is all.

The conservatives have undeniably won this round. Wednesday's "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" not only earned the company loads of cash, but also let conservatives such as Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee dominate the media narrative with countless web commenters crooning their support for "traditional marriage."

Apart from a few actors and several mayors threatening to bar Chick-fil-A from their cities, we've had no prominent public figures voicing support for our boycott.

And our response--a nationwide kiss-in which that will hardly endear us to Chick-fil-A's supporters and do nothing inform them of our grievances--seems set to create nice visual contrasts between affectionate LGBT couples and the company that seeks to destroy them, but could potentially backfire.

As Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend says, "[The Kiss-In] allows the framing of the issue to remain in the court of the fundamentalists. Gay=sex. Sex=icky."

Some commenters at Spaulding's site have said that the Kiss-In could be a good thing if LGBT couples get kicked out, arrested or attacked at Chick-fil-A's, but that's quite grim and possibly not what the kiss-in organizers originally intended.

Conservatives had the media tell everyone about "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" because it was created by former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. The Kiss-In was initially created by a little known Facebook user. Also, conservatives had a nationwide network of churches spreading the word about Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day to their congregants as well.

Being a grassroots protest organized online, we were outgunned. The proof? Huckabee's Facebook event had 671,498 attending—the Kiss-In had 13,852.

Rather than dwell on losing this battle, we still have many ways to win the larger war. Here's some ideas on what should come next if the LGBT movement wants to keep Chick-fil-A's chicken feet to the fryer:

- LGBT groups should publicly ask for the support of LGBT-friendly celebrity allies to tweet or make a short video against Chick-fil-A's anti-gay donations. The Gays and Lesbians Allied Against Defamation should then publicize the celebrities' support.

- Work with local equality groups and LGBT-friendly businesses to hold a legal, peaceful organized protest outside of Chick-fil-A with signs that clearly read "Chick-fil-A gives to hate groups." Make sure that all local media have been told about the protest beforehand.

- Pam's House Blend commenter maa8722 suggested that we: "consider how Chick’s locations are set up. Which sites are owned and which are leased? For leased sites why not encourage a lessor to not renew a Chick lease? Use peaceful protests and encourage a peaceful boycott against an entire mall as well as against the Chick inside. For Chick owned sites find out if there are any unpaid taxes or fees on the property or zoning issues. A lot of legwork there, but just the news of ongoing research will remain a continuous reminder to the public. There are a lot of Chick outlets on the map. Where will that research team show up next?"

What other ways might help choke Chick-fil-A's chicken?