Guest column: Another food fight

Apparently, Terps have taken a sudden interest in the practices of on-campus food vendors. But while we're busy signing petitions, boycotting and passing out graphic DVDs regarding how McDonald's kills its chickens, maybe we should take time to consider cruelty to other animals. No, not the cows. This time it's the humans.

There is another agent of oppression in the food court. Chick-fil-A contributes to Focus on the Family, a Christian nonprofit whose mission is to "help families thrive." Although it apparently forgot to qualify that statement, because Focus on the Family is actively against queer families.

Focus on the Family does a lot of good things. It provides parents advice on how to deal with teenagers who have body image problems and toddlers who have trouble making friends. So it is all the more tragic these positive efforts are tainted by such hateful and exclusionary practices directed at same-sex couples.

According to Dr. James Dobson Jr., the founder of Focus on the Family and a specialist in child psychology, homosexuals are non-monogamous and dangerous.

In 2003, Dobson was quoted in an Oklahoma newspaper as saying, "[Homosexuals] want to destroy the institution of marriage. [Homosexuality] will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth."

He believes homosexuality is a choice and a sin and can be overcome through therapy. The notion that homosexuality can be "healed" is not one supported by the American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association.

Although Focus on the Family is a Christian organization, Dobson doesn't limit his attack on the homosexual community to divine revelation. Using his doctorate to oppress gays with the powers of science, he announced in 2004 that research indicates homosexuals don't make good parents, which is incorrect and as a community leader with a doctorate, Dobson should know this. In fact, his analysis was so farfetched that the author of the study he cited, New York University sociologist Judith Stacey, openly criticized him for misrepresenting her research.

"It is a complete distortion," she said, "At this time gay and lesbian parents are much more likely to be good parents because they have had to work so hard to get there."
But Focus on the Family does not end their assault on queer families with rhetoric. They are also political. In fact, the Colorado-based group donated more than $550,000 to support California's Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. And less than two months after their donation to "Say Yes to Prop 8," Focus on the Family announced the need to lay off about 20 percent of its staff.

So if you're like me and you support civil rights for same-sex couples, then you may be feeling guilty as you bite into that delicious cooked-in-peanut-oil-so-you-can-tell-yourself-it's-healthy sandwich. Knowing that Chick-Ffake those waffle fries any less tempting.

But there is good news: You can enjoy Chick-fil-A and support equality. Just hop on the Metro and come down to Washington at noon on Sunday, Oct. 11 for the National Equality March. The march is designed to demand full federal equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. So you can have your morals and eat your chicken, too.

Kaitlyn Murphy is a senior government and politics and philosophy major. She can be reached at kmurphy at umd dot edu.