Proving that his hatred runs deeper than his business acumen, Jim Furmen, the owner of 86 Wendy’s restaurants across North Carolina, posted signs outside his franchises stating that he stands with his competitor Chick-fil-A on the subject of same-sex marriage.
Towleroad reports Wendy’s corporate offices says Furmen was acting alone: “An independent franchisee posted the sign, which he’s taken down. We proudly serve ALL customers!”
Another comfort-food eatery is taking a stand on marriage equality as well—but in favor of it: Schnipper’s, a New York restaurant with locations in Times Square and Gramercy Park, is donating $1 from every purchase of its chicken-filet sandwich to Marriage Equality USA.
“A truly good Chicken Filet Sandwich would always be in favor of Marriage Equality,” reads a statement from brothers/co-owners Jonathan and Andrew Schnipper on the restaurant’s Facebook page. “Ours is the best you’ll ever have since its made from fresh chicken breasts and hand dipped to order in our seasoned corn flour blend and buttermilk. It’s super crispy and it’s gluten free!”
Neo
“A truly good Chicken Filet Sandwich would always be in favor of Marriage Equality”
This, a trillion, bazillion times this.
Poison sandwiches on the other hand are made for the hateful, may their arteries cause them severe discomfort forevermore.
Kristopher
This is so stupid.
AddySubtracty
Maybe we just shouldn’t eat out anymore.
MACDONALDBANK
Being black, left-handed or being gay is just as natural. Bibles and the torah which includes leviticus 18:22 should be immediately banned for promoting hatred against minorities; namely the gay community and the crosses removed from all schools and churches.
The evil writings in Leviticus 18:22 against gays depict; rules for temple rituals or “P” … Priestly Rules & expanded by the pope; homophobes and religious frauds to attack the gay community and never meant to apply to the public but to priests. Leviticus exists in the old testament & torah.
“It is written; so therefore it shall be? We are the chosen people? Such a wicked fantasy.” To see the religious lunatics manipulate government and our lives is shameful.
It is a sometimes rare occurrence to fall in Love and to hold that person in your heart and be loved in return … it is something that should be celebrated! If it is between two guys or girls all the better. It takes even more courage to defend that LOVE!
lubbockgaymale
To everyone, forget picketing… vote with your wallets and boycott these idiots! Make your money your voice.
FunMe
Go vegetarian and all those places would be out of business.
MACDONALDBANK
Christianity is basically a fiction which turned out to be one of the most hateful & evil concoctions ever perpetrated on the world.
santossangre
@FunMe: Yes!
Rdp
Right o! @Neo:
Rdp
I will boycot where and when required. I am finished with right wing bullying! It’s really bad when a bunch of self righteous bigoted zealots start firing up the weak minded.
Bill
Apparently Wendy’s does not want our business either. OK fine.
Wonder what corporate Wendy’s will do about this.
Rdp
The article said the signs were taken downand that Wendy’s serves everyone. It’s early though, we’ll see how it goes! Corps go as the wind blows! @Bill:
Mikey
Now you did forget to mention that Wendy’s corporate made the franchisee take down the signs from every one of his franchises almost immediately afterwards, right, and that Wendy’s then made a statement that they don’t support chick-fil-a.
Toby
All this over whether a sky pixie might get his leprechaun-in-a-twist if a man marries another man? Weird.
Brandon
Actually, it’s good to know what restaurants do not want my business.
Scott Mellon
What a shame. I used to like Wendy’s
jaxxy
looks like north carolina is a good place to avoid. this tourist will find a more inclusive pkace to vacation.
Scott Mellon
That’s a shame. I like wendy’s and now I can never eat there again
Rdp
Don’t forget that Hobby Lobby gives money to ultra right christian law supporters.
stoopid louie
I may be stoopid but . . . to make a global issue out of the fact that a fast food restaurant’s founder says he believes in traditional marriage only makes us come across as hysterical and reactionary. Don’t like the personal beliefs of this guy? Fine, then don’t buy his stuff and hope he goes out of business. But for chrissakes stop whining about this stupid fucking restaurant—please.
Dannyboi2 (@DanyQT)
Naw, This is great, PPL are talking and that’s one step in the right direction. First we need dialog and free Advertising… may it be good or bad it’s keeping the LGBTQ community out in the media.
The more we talk about it the more ppl start realizing how stupid these right wingers are and sooner or later when they die off, like they have for women’s, black, rites, they will come to realize nobody cares… what your Fictitious bible says or doesn’t. Love is the answer and they sure are full of hate for no reason… What is civil marriage got anything to do with your religious beliefs anyway? Onward Christian Soldiers.
Gene in L.A.
@stoopid louie: Saying I’m not going to eat at Chik-Fil-A anymore, or urging others to do the same is not whining. If you don’t like to read it, don’t. Isn’t that easy?
Larkin
It’s all well and good they forced him to take down the sign, but a large donation to marriage equality is in order.
I sent them a comment on their website.
Terry K
I live in Columbus, Ohio, the home of Wendy’s corporate offices. Wendy’s is very gay affirming, and I have an idea that that redneck good ole boy in NC is going to have his franchises carefully scrutinized for compliance.
Brandon
I like what I’m seeing lately in the gay community: taking a stand and not worrying about the inviteable backlash like we’re seeing today. Our message made it out there somehow into the MSM, and the rightwing zombies are the ones having a fit and staging this silly stunt. They really aren’t doing the franchisees any favors because is is making them appear to support the bigots.
Alex
What many people don’t know about the multitude of fast food franchises in the world is that not every store reports to the same person. Stores are usually owned in groupings under one individual, and as mentioned in the article, this individual owns 86 in North Carolina. That was his belief, not the belief of the franchise as a whole – which had him take the sign down. Wendys is still as it was before. One bigot owning a small fraction of the company doesn’t necessarily speak for the entire company. There’s always one rotten apple of the bunch.
Terrence
@stoopid louie: Louie, it’s not about the stance. It’s about the allocation of dollars toward anti-gay organizations — while still taking gay dollars.
Brenda
Used to Love Wendys , never like chi fila anyway….Wendys lost aot of business anyway so now theyll lose a whole lot more…..Go GaaaaaY!!!
Bruce Brown
It’s not a surprise. Corporate culture doesn’t like to be challenged and they will stand together. Lest we start questioning other of their practices.
Mike1987
My comment back to Wendy’s when they gave me the same crap: “Sorry, no dice. The sign does NOT say Independent Franchisee, but rather Wendy’s. Seems you support excuses to hate.”
scribe37
Well the good news is avoiding all this fast food is going to help lose some needed weight… If Mikey D’s and Burger King starts hating on blk people I will be 150 pounds by xmas!
Chuck
@Kristopher: I know right… Why would we want the issue of gay marriage to be fought on the front of fast-food restaurants and chicken sandwiches? DX
I can just see the history books…
murphy0071
These bigots have a right to support whatever personal causes they like. But, the use of corporate funds, rather than their own personal fortune, is clearly unethical. Whoever said that Evangelicals and Fundamentalists have ethics or intellectual honesty?
Nina
@stoopid louie: The problem is that he’s actively donating to groups like Focus on the Family and Exodus International. He’s not just disagreeing, he’s actively oppressing.
Mark Jenkins
Thank God I don’t have to eat at Wendy’s any more!
bill(Guillermo3)
Everyone seems to be overlooking the positive possibilities:
Wendy’s sells god old fashioned square bigotry and all the
purveyors of fast food burgers can advertize with pictures of
cows holding signs that say:”Eat More Cock!”
On a truly serious note,a much more important issue is that
we[everyone,regardless of sexual-orientation,race,religious
affiliation,political belief, STOP EATING THIS SHIT.Obesity
is at least as great a danger as bigotry.
B
No. 34 · Nina wrote, “@stoopid louie: The problem is that he’s actively donating to groups like Focus on the Family and Exodus International.”
Let’s hope he donates a lot of what I presume are artery-clogging meals! Maybe he’ll outdo a restaurant named the “Heart Attack Grill” (I’m not making this up – there really is such a place).
MJ (different from the other one)
that’s good. their burgers were fucking up digestive system lately anyway. that is no lie. It was a while since I ate at Wendy’s and then a couple of weeks ago I had to come up to work to deal with some inventory crap, which had us out near FT. Picket which I call Nowheresville. We drove out to the Wendy’s where I thought a burger would be good until eating it with all of it’s grease dripping out of the burger through the wrapper made my stomach sick, and then their fries were so tasteless I needed to drench them in salt just to give them some flavor. (ketchup wasn’t gonna work)
Superman
Walmart is ultra-conservative; it just goes about it in stealth mode. Is the LGBT community boycotting Walmart? Probably not; it’s just too convenient and pocket-friendly for the masses. I’m guilty of continuing to shop there too…for now. Any thoughts on this?
Marcel
To those who didn’t read the article, Wendy’s does not stand with CFA, that was a franchise owner in NC. Wendy’s actually puts corporate money into worthy causes, like Wendy’s Wonderful Kids (agency for promoting adoption of children in foster care), unlike CFA which invests in hateful and bigoted organizations. I’m not a fast food consumer, but all things considered I would rather patronize Wendy’s than CFA.
Jeff
@Marcel: @Marcel:
That is the problem here is folks are being overly reactionary. It is NOT Wendy’s policy and never has been. It was a rouge franchise owner in the deep south (imagine that) who put up a sign. It is not Wendy’s policy or wishes and they were pretty quick to have it pulled down.
Jeff
@Superman:
No i definitely do not shop at walmart. And it’s only lightly about gay issues that i dont. It’s far broader in how they are run, treat people, don’t pay benefits, any number of issues.Their prices can easily be found elsewhere these days in most cases, so that’s no reason for me to support a culture i don’t believe in.
Jeff
I’ll just have to avoid and boycott Wendy’s too! Know who you are dealing with beforehand, that’s my advise!!!
John
I’m still eating at Wendy’s. Don’t give a fuck.
n900mixalot
@FunMe: This is why hipsters should be gathered up and shipped to Antarctica. Being a vegetarian does nothing for anyone and is unnatural, especially where there are no problems digesting meat or animal products. We are BUILT to eat meat, in moderation. This is also why YOUR children have stupid allergies, lime peanut allergies, who ever heard of such idiocy? Allergic to effing PEANUTS?! How pathetic.
Also, not eating meat doesn’t automatically pull you out of this fight. You wear clothes, consume electricity, and live in a house … all of these affect the ecosystem detrimentally.
Moderation on all accounts is what we need, not more “crazy”.
DuchessFlux
What an incredibley idiotic statement for a business owner to make. I guess before opening his mouth he didn’t bother to go to the Family Research Council’s website or Facebook page and read the filth that fanatical company is spewing in the name of Christianity. I will not support any business that sends money to lobby groups who are actively trying to remove rights from American citizens based on a person’s race, color, religion, age, orientation or gender. This is way bigger then gay marriage, this organization is poisionous to all who value their freedom.
I wonder if there is a way to get a list of the franchises he owns. I live in Asheville and if I eat fast food, it was Wendy’s.
DouggSeven
Wendy’s head office must’ve shit their pants. Of all the fast food chains, that one has been the most velnerable. Ever since they took away their salad bar, they lost their distinction over McDonalds and when there’s a Wendy’s in close proximity to a McDonalds, McDonalds beats them 3 to 1.
Daez
@n900mixalot: What gets me most about vegetarians is that they do it much more out of a need to feel superior to others than for any other reason. It has nothing to do with meat. They feel a need to advertise and promote their “superior” diet. I do not go around bragging about being a carnivore that loves to eat baby animals. Although, I love veal and lamb.
Ken
AMEN BROTHER! I HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!
Ken
No. 7 · MACDONALDBANK · Member · 19 comments
Christianity is basically a fiction which turned out to be one of the most hateful & evil concoctions ever perpetrated on the world.
AMEN BROTHER!
J
What kind of a country do we live in where it’s come to this?
KARUADAM
@Mark Jenkins: It is really like that! “Thank God I never eaten at bloody Christian, mother fucker Wendy’s. Christianity is a mental illness! all Christian are mentally ill and suffering of mental poverty.
KARUADAM
@J: Like all places in the world that let fucking Christianity taking over like the fucking Meet, mormon and should be “Meet moron”.
KARUADAM
@Ken: Are you talking about the Christianity, that told the world “the Jews killed God” and they should be kill!. Fucking Catholic, and all of the Christian cherches. I wrote to the Israelis, not to let bloody Christian to Israel, (they don`t hear me).
Duchess Flux
Just got off the phone with the manager of Wendy’s here in my hometown of Asheville. I am very dismayed to say that every single Wendy’s, according to the managers at two of the restaurants here, are owned by Jim Furmen. The manager was very nice and helpful. According to her he owns every single one of them from Statesville to Greenville to Columbia,SC. I am waiting for a call back from Wendy’s to confirm, but I’m afraid there wont be Wendy’s in my future unless I am traveling. Shame because they have the BEST salads!
Jimmy
And Wendys was the only fast food chain I like to eat at. I guess I will have to go to Perkins more often.
Charli
Why are so many gay people NOT understanding that it’s VERY important to take a stand AND to KNOW where your flipping money is going? HELLO?????!? Download HRC’s buying guide APP and ” KNOW b4 you GO”!!!!!
It’s not rocket science that if we do nothing, um nothing will change!!!!
Duh!!!!!!!