Some of my friends don’t understand why there is such a fuss over the statements made by Chick-fil-A’s higher ups regarding the company’s donations to organizations that oppose equal rights for gay people. After all, the company has always been closed on Sundays, it hasn’t ever been shy about identifying itself as a Christian organization. So, apparently, the logic goes, we shouldn’t be surprised that it donates so much money to organizations whose goal is denying equality.
Maybe it’s my pesky law degree kicking in, but I take issue with that reasoning. To me, there’s a difference between knowing a company is run by a wacky old zealot and knowing that the money I spend there goes to support organizations whose purpose is contrary to the core of my beliefs. After all, it’s the South — wacky old zealots are not really news. They have their beliefs, and we get colorful characters for plays and movies like “Steel Magnolias” and “Driving Miss Daisy.”
People also say, well, there are bigger problems in the world than where a wacky old zealot donates his profits. That sort of thinking is a handy excuse to absolve one of any sort of social responsibility whatsoever. I personally can’t do anything about the threat of nuclear war, but I can skip my occasional indulgences in peanut-oil soaked chicken nuggets.
Similarly, when traveling, there is literally an entire world of options to consider when choosing a vacation destination. One of the Duchess’s favorite things to do is snorkel, and everyone knows not to bother me during Shark Week. I keep hearing that Belize has some of the best snorkeling around, in the same class as the Great Barrier Reef. Ordinarily, I’d have my hotel booked and bikini packed by now.
However, Belize’s policies make Chick-fil-A seem like a land of rainbows. Homosexuality is currently illegal in the country and punishable by up to ten years in prison, and this isn’t an antique law held over out of legal laziness — the courts have upheld it recently against a challenge. The trial is ongoing, but still, currently, a gay couple could be imprisoned for ten years in Belize.
Of course, I’m sure that couples could and do visit the country with discretion and avoid arrest, but that isn’t the point. If I choose, out of all the waters of the world, to travel to Belize and give them my money, that helps their economy and validates their national policy of persecution. For my gay friends, I imagine they would feel about as supported as I would if my male friends went to a female circumcision party and posted pictures on Facebook. I hope the policy is changed in my lifetime, but until then, there are other seas full of fish, as it were.
These may be small steps, but a journey is not composed solely of leaps. Yes, you can drive yourself crazy trying to avoid sponsoring any business whose policies differ from your own, but when the commitment to celebrate hatred is cheered so loudly, you owe it to yourself to walk your wallet out the door. One American value is undeniably true: the votes you make with your money are counted.