Cracker Barrel’s Pride Month announcement ignites social media
Cracker Barrel recently announced a celebration of Pride Month, and social networks ignited with comments for and against.
In a June 8 post showing a chair painted in rainbow colors, a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, the restaurant chain celebrated inclusivity.
“We are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our 🌈 rocker). Happy Pride!” read the post.
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Reactions were immediate. Thousands of people commented on the posts, some applauding the statement and others disapproving of the restaurant’s stance.
On Facebook, the post exceeded 37,000 comments and 26,000 shares. On Instagram, there are already more than 2,700 comments, thousands of them celebrating the brand.
“Love that. I’ve always loved Cracker Barrel. Love them even more now,” wrote Mattie Akers, a Facebook user.
“Lord how times have changed. I stood with many folks in 1991 protesting Cracker Barrel - LGBT folks and drag queens would take up as many tables as possible on weekend evenings and order tea and cornbread. Sit there til closing time. Look at them now,” wrote Lance, founder of Rainbow Youth Project USA.
Lord how times have changed. I stood with many folks in 1991 protesting Cracker Barrel - LGBT folks and drag queens would take up as many tables as possible on weekend evenings and order tea and cornbread. Sit there til closing time. Look at them now. https://t.co/8IqQOofdVF — ᒪᗩᑎᑕᗴ 🏳️🌈 (@LanceUSA70) June 9, 2023
But there were also thousands of dissenting comments, and even public figures vowed not to return to the place.
“We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen. A once family-friendly establishment has caved to the mob,” wrote Texas Family Project on Twitter.
We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen.
A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob. pic.twitter.com/IM0p1NT20S — Texas Family Project (@FamilyProjectTX) June 8, 2023
“Bye bye, Cracker Barrel!!! I will never eat there again,” Texas congressman Ronny Jackson wrote on Twitter.
Cracker Barrel is a Southern food restaurant chain based in Lebanon, Tenn. It was founded in 1969 and has more than 660 locations in 45 states.
In 1991, Cracker Barrel was criticized for having an anti-gay employment policy that said employees “whose sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal heterosexual values” would be fired, according to a National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce news release from August 1991, that is now in the Portal to Texas History.
Cracker Barrel was also sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2004 for sexual and racial harassment and retaliation at some restaurants. Around the same time, the company was also sued by customers and the NAACP for racial discrimination. These lawsuits and a Justice Department investigation led the company to change its policies.
In 2018, the restaurant launched a Rainbow Pride Rocker with which they have assisted several LGBTQ+ organizations in their fundraising efforts. In 2019, the chain “condemned and turned away an anti-LGBTQ+ pastor when he announced plans in 2019 for his church group to meet at a Knoxville area Cracker Barrel,” according to its website.
Cracker Barrel has not responded to a request for comment from The Dallas Morning News.
Source: The Dallas Morning News
