Mixed thoughts about the Chick-Fil-A letter.

If you've been away from the internet, you know that Mayor Menino released a letter a few days ago to the CEO(?) of Chick-Fil-A(who had made anti-gay marriage statements earlier) that we in the city of Boston have no need for a business that discriminates against homosexuals. You can read the letter in its entirety here

As you can see from the title, I'm not entirely sure what I think about this letter.

Let me state right now that I am definitely pro-gay rights and gay marriage. HOWEVER. I do not believe this strongly worded letter was the best vehicle through which to air our views for the following reasons:

1) People are allowed to believe whatever they want in this country. Or so the First Amendment tells me.

2) From what I can see, the business Chick-Fil-A itself is an equal opportunity employer who does not (and CAN NOT) discriminate against employees of different sexual orientations.

While I think that Mayor Menino's efforts were very noble, I think they were somewhat misguided. Having another restaurant on the Freedom trail could be an opportunity for employment and increased revenue for the city of Boston. What it basically comes down to for me is whether or not we can separate the ethics of the corporation from the ethics of the people who run it, or whether we should treat them as one and the same. While you could disagree with Mr. Cathy's viewpoints, does that discount him from being a successful businessman? Should his beliefs exclude him from having his business in Boston? Also, I'm not sure what Menino's powers as mayor are but I'm fairly sure it's unethical to expel someone from the city of Boston because of their viewpoints. It's a targeted attack of an individual rather than the company; had the company itself stated that it would not hire gay employees, this would be a huge issue but that's not exactly the case. So while I applaud his audacity, I'm still somewhat divided about this.