Why I Don’t Boycott Anti-Gay Businesses

“You went to Hobby Lobby?” My friend cried out as if I had committed some terrible sin. I had recently gotten a small metal pail for my Squishy Sand and some exciting wall decor. I love Hobby Lobby. they have excellent sales and interesting things. There is no place for art supplies and home decor at good prices. However, many people are aware of Hobby Lobby’s strong christian stance. They are closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as being closed on Sundays. They have spent millions of dollars in courts  to avoid the Obamacare requirement to provide birth control to their employees through their company health plan. They also are not exactly LGBT friendly in any sense of that idea. Many people vote with their feet and their dollars and choose to shop elsewhere. I do not. There are a few reasons:

• They have really good products
• I don’t need to walk into their store kissing a man in full drag with a pride parade as my entourage
• Demonizing them and ostracizing them seems to fuel the flames

Now I realize that some people might find that a little wishy washy but I think this extends out to all gay businesses. I am not the kind of person who goes for overt action. My activism is rather behind the scenes. For example, another business, Chick-fil-a is overtly anti-LGBT and I don’t eat there. Some might think that’s because of their anti-gay sentiment. Not so. I simply don’t care for their food. Their waffle fries are alright but not enough to convince me to eat there. I rarely eat chicken from fast food and their chicken just doesn’t do it for me. However, for the anti-gay businesses that I do like I’ve decided that the best activism is the infiltration variety. Separation is not the solution. I will go through their very nice and frequently on-sale goods and I will show them what it is like to be gay in America. The best way to subvert this anti-gay rhetoric is to inhabit the communities where they live and shop. So while I’m walking around Hobby Lobby looking for what goes on my walls next listening to my audio friends Mariah, Cher, and Britney I am demonstrating very quietly what a gay man looks like and they might find that its not so bad and that eventually they will learn that they are around gay people all day every day and they didn’t get raped or asked to parade down the sidewalk in roller skates with a rainbow flag. They just might find gay people aren’t so bad afterall. It will take time but every time I darken their door I put an ever so tiny crack in their little world.

That’s real activism.