Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The Scott Township Library is partnering with the Chick-fil-A in Bridgeville for a food fundraiser in February.

Some call this a betrayal by the library of local LGBTQ residents, especially children. Libraries have been at the forefront of legislative attacks on LGBTQ folx through book bans and harassing drag queen storybook events. Libraries typically are opposed to these things, so residents are perplexed by this newest partnership.

And that begs a question for the new ages – is Chick-fil-A still a bad actor?

This came to mind this summer when a young Black queer teen sought a job at Chick-fil-A and said “I will make them use my pronouns and take their money.” And she did.

I began informally polling folx to determine their chicken/waffle fries allegiances. While decidedly unscientific, there was a clear generational divide. Middle aged Generation Xers are a tepid, but audible “nope” while Boomers are subdivided by progressives who have a litany of reasons to not support fast food and those who are too tired working two jobs to have the energy to discuss it. And then the righteous Boomer Christians who think idling their giant cars in line for 35 minutes to buy waffle fries is virtuous.

Gen Y and the Alpha Generation do not see the Chick-fil-A threat to LGBTQ folx any worse than the threats on deforestation, animal cruelty, low wage jobs, etc. There’s nothing righteous about turning up our noses at a sandwich when we simply pull into another capitalist entity that also hurts humanity.

To be fair, the two younger generations also tend to report vegetarian lifestyles. To me, at least.

My general sense is that the tide has turned. Chick-fil-A changed their business model in part due to the insistence of us middle-aged folx. They are still standing and expanding. And still Xtian capitalists.

I can’t imagine going to Chick-fil-A. Ever. Not only am I still a self-righteous progressive who doesn’t trust their change, I have personal experiences being attacked by the pro Chick-fil-A crowd.

But I trust the younger generations, working their way up from cashiers to assistant managers and beyond. Calls to unionize Chick-fil-A around a myriad of issues a la Starbucks can’t be far behind.

As for fundraising, I’m sure the Scott Township needs the money. And Chick-fil-A like so many other restaurants is making them work aka sell their soul for each penny.

In 2020, we reported on transphobic behavior by then Scott Township Commissioner Paul Abel. After his comments went public, he resigned 7 days after the meeting per the Pgh City Paper.

A Scott resident KD shares

“As a Scott resident interested in the Library, I attended the Scott Township Library Board of Directors meeting at which the Chick-fil-A fundraiser was discussed. I reminded the Board of Chick-fil-A’s virulent homophobia and strongly recommended that the Board choose a different venue. One Board member agreed with me about Chick-fil-A’s reputation. However, after some discussion, the Board unanimously approved the fundraiser despite my concerns. In my opinion, the entire Board and Library Director apparently felt that the amount of money potentially raised at Chick-fil-A supersedes both the chain’s anti-LGBT stance and the Township’s respect for its LGBT residents.

“I then contacted my Scott Township Commissioner, who agreed with me that Chick-fil-A and this fundraiser are troubling. He said he would look into it, but the problem is the Commissioners’ control (or lack thereof) over the Library’s Board. At this writing, I have not received a reply, so I emailed him again. I also notified Scott’s DEI advisory committee, of which I am a member, but at this writing have received no response from them at all.”

I wonder if the Scott Library staff belong to the United Library Workers?

If confronted, I fully expect that the library will defend and protest and rationalize. They would use these corporate talking points

• CFA is no longer donating to anti-LGBTQ organizations.
• CFA stores are distinct from the foundation.
• CFA franchises are small, local businesses.
• CFA is delicious.
• CFA has DEI people.
• Chick-fil-A is the third-largest restaurant chain in the U.S. by sales per MSNBC.

A smart response by the Scott Library would be to spend that Chick-fil-A money on LGBTQ programming. And listen to the community. What’s not clear is whether the community has a unified message. You can clear that up.

Please be sure to voice support for the library staff to unionize.

Scott Library email scottcomments@einetwork.net

Phone (412) 429-5380

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/scottlibrary

We’ll see what happens. Or doesn’t. Do Gen Y/Alpha Gen read blogs?