Over 51,000 people have signed up to participate in an event designed to support free speech and two iconic brands that have come under fire for their views on homosexuality, The Blaze reported Thursday.
The event page asks people to wear their Duck Dynasty camouflage gear and eat at Chick-fil-A on Tuesday, January 21, 2014.
According to The Blaze, the event was started by Eric Odom, director of interactive media for Grassfire.com.
Odom, The Blaze said, is the person behind the “We Stand With Phil” Facebook page that has more than 1.5 million “likes” as of this writing.
Earlier in December, a “back Phil” petition that received over 400,000 signatures was delivered to A&E. Shortly after that petition was delivered, Odom realized that that “supporting Robertson needed to go beyond ‘liking’ the Facebook page or signing a petition.”
“In my head I was trying to address the question people who signed the petition, fanned and shared the page were asking about what action could [be taken] next,” Odom said, according to BizPacReview.
Odom recalled what happened when Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy made his comments regarding homosexuality and put the two together.
“I see them [the comments made by Robertson and Cathy] as similar, not discriminating,” Odom said. “They are just expressing their opinions.”
Odom also sees the flap over Robertson as part of a continuing effort to push conservatives around.
“There is this 900 pound gorilla or this sleeping giant out there that doesn’t like being prodded and poked and we feel like we’re being prodded and poked,” he told BizPac Review. “And we would rather just mind our own business and be left alone, but if you are just going to push and push and push and push, eventually your going to wake the thing up and it’s going to come out screaming. And that’s what the January 21 event is, to show undeniable support.”
GLAAD, the left wing group responsible for A&E’s action against Robertson, has said it will research other companies that sponsor the Duck Dynasty patriarch.
As we reported earlier Thursday, the group seeks to monitor the media and censor those with whom they disagree.
Odom said his event is not affiliated with either Chick-Fil-A or Robertson.
“There has been no communication with either brand/company and we chose to do this on our own,” the “Chick Phil A National Support” Facebook page says.
Related:
- Goodbye free speech: GLAAD seeks to censor those critical of homosexuality
- Despite blowback, GLAAD researching, may target others sponsoring Phil Robertson
- Mike Huckabee: Facebook deliberately censoring pro-Phil Robertson event page
- Facebook smacks admin of Boycott A&E page for getting too many likes too fast
- A&E’s suspension of Phil Robertson proves liberals do not support free speech
- Camille Paglia: Duck Dynasty suspension ‘utterly fascist, utterly Stalinist
- CNN’s Piers Morgan: First Amendment doesn’t apply to ‘racist’ Phil Robertson
- Boycott A&E movement grows after network suspends Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson
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