Can't We All Just (Not) Get Along?

This blog post is showing up in my inbox and on my FB feed now. It's from Shane Windmeyer, the leader of Campus Pride, an LGBT advocacy group, on his burgeoning relationship with Chick-fil-A's president and COO, Dan Cathy. One of my FB friends wrote that she was "ambivalent" to the piece, which I think accurately describes my feelings as well. One the one hand, I applaud two human beings authentically reaching out to each other in an attempt at understanding and respect. On the other hand, I find it problematic when such engagement is misconstrued as ends instead of as means. The general narrative seems to be that people are all essentially well-meaning, our differences are often intractable, so the best we can do is to hold hands and agree to disagree. The problem is that only one side's views infringe on the rights and personhood of the others'. The underlying assumption is that there are two perspectives, that both are legitimate and valid, and compromise is sufficient. Granted, it is great that Chick-fil-A's "charitable" arm is no longer giving to anti-gay causes, but there are still those pesky cultural consequences spread under the guise of religious belief.

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UPDATE (1/30/2013): Turns out the rumors of an end to the funding of anti-gay causes were greatly exaggerated.