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Cracker Barrel Is Now Too 'Woke' For Conservatives & We Have To Laugh
The family style restaurant tries to redeem itself in time for Pride Month.
Historically anti-LGBTQ+ chain restaurants are suddenly being attacked by conservatives for being too “woke.” Have we entered the Twilight Zone?
First Chick-fil-A faced a right-wing backlash after hiring a Vice President of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and now Cracker Barrel has come under fire.
Yesterday the homestyle restaurant posted a picture on Instagram of a rainbow rocking chair on their famous porch full of rockers with a caption celebrating Pride Month.
“We are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests,” Cracker Barrel wrote. “Everyone is always welcome at our table and our [rainbow] rocker. Happy Pride!”
Predictably, this simple statement of acceptance infuriated conservative bigots.
One Instagram user wrote, “Totally uncalled for. How about a veteran's chair. With old glory painted on it?” Another added, “Not bringing my children there. In fact, we’re done with you.”
The Texas Family Project, a conservative “family values” group, tweeted, “We take no pleasure in reporting thatCracker Barrel has fallen. A once family-friendly establishment has caved to the mob.”
We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen.
— Texas Family Project (@FamilyProjectTX) June 8, 2023
A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob. pic.twitter.com/IM0p1NT20S
The post was also met with excitement from people who saw this as a welcome change from a chain that was criticized in the ‘90s for firing employees because of their sexuality.
According to the New York Times, back then a company memorandum said that Cracker Barrel was based on a "concept of traditional American values” and that employees whose sexuality fell outside of the perceived “normal heterosexual values” of their customer base would be let go.
“An unexpected but very welcome gesture,” one user wrote under the Cracker Barrel Instagram post. Another person commented, “Love everything about this. Thank you, for making everyone feel loved and welcome.”
The Disaster Girls podcast even created merch based on the Texas Family Project tweeting “Cracker Barrel has fallen.” All profits from the sale of the hilarious merch will go to the charitable drag group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
We made a Cracker Barrel Has Fallen collection and all profits go to the Sister of Perpetual Indulgence! https://t.co/iJvABM3UKz pic.twitter.com/9UdMXY5Ujb
— Disaster Girls Podcast (@disaster_pod) June 9, 2023
Cracker Barrel doubled down on it’s support of the LGBTQ+ community by responding to one Twitter users excitement over the change in the company by commenting, “Thanks for sharing! Our teams take pride in creating a welcoming, safe atmosphere where people can enjoy time with family and friends the moment they walk through our doors."
Thanks for sharing! Our teams take pride in creating a welcoming, safe atmosphere where people can enjoy time with family and friends the moment they walk through our doors. ❤️
— Cracker Barrel (@CrackerBarrel) June 8, 2023
Cracker Barrel faced similar criticism from conservatives last year when they added an Impossible sausage to their breakfast menu. Apparently, plant-based meat products are also too “woke.”
Who had Cracker Barrel's redemption arc on their Pride 2023 bingo card?
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Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
