A Chick-fil-A location in Plano reportedly is among those that have posted signs announcing an alleged Muppets toy recall, after the Jim Henson Co. severed its ties with the chicken chain over its opposition to gay rights.
The above photo from a Chick-fil-A store announcing it “voluntarily recalled all of the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Puppet Kids Meal toys due to a possible safety issue” is from a Plano location.
Human Rights Campaign board member Meghan Stabler, who lives in Round Rock, told Instant Tea the sign is from the Plano store at the Willow Bend Mall, where servers were instructed to tell customers that there were safety issues with the toys.
The sign states that “there have not been any cases in which a child has actually been injured, however there have been some reports of children getting their fingers stuck in the holes of the puppets.”
Phone calls to the restaurant were not answered.
The Jim Henson Co. announced that it would sever ties with Chick-fil-A after its President Dan Cathy again made anti-gay comments last week and expressed continued support for “traditional family values.” Henson Co. CEO Lisa Henson is a supporter of marriage equality and announced that the company would donate money from Chick-fil-A to GLAAD.
Meanwhile, former Dallasite Carly McGehee, who attended Flower Mound High School, has created the event “National Same Sex Kiss Day at Chick Fil A,” scheduled for Aug. 3. McGehee, who now lives in New York, said she has boycotted the company since 2010 when she found out it funds anti-gay groups.
The idea for the event came from a similar event at Starbucks in 2009. She said that she remembers the effectiveness of the event and wants to repeat that success.
“We show up and simply kiss the person we love to show that loving someone of the same gender isn’t wrong,” she said, adding that she hopes people with conduct themselves appropriately at the event. “It’s not inhumane. It’s just love, and it should be accepted.”
McGehee said that as a gay woman herself Cathy’s comments struck her personally and made her act.
“Whether he knows it or not, people will listen to what he has to say because he has money and because he has power. Anyone should not be saying that I, simply for who I love, should not be given rights,” McGehee said. “I’m not saying about religion. That’s not what this is about. People have the right to believe what they want to believe, but when they try to impose that religion, the beliefs of some, upon the rights of everyone, that’s when I have a problem with it.”