Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, an American chain restaurant based in Lebanon, Tennessee, has come under criticism from conservatives after sharing a Facebook post celebrating Pride Month.
The restaurant, which is known for its menu of traditional southern foods and its country-style decor, with the interior resembling an old-fashioned general store, surprised many of its conservative fans by supporting the LGBTQ community.
In their post, the restaurant chain said they are “excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests,” and invited customers to enjoy their limited-edition rainbow-colored rockers, adding: “Everyone is always welcome at our table.”
Many staunch conservatives on Facebook and Twitter responded to the message of acceptance with anger and hate.
Texas Family Project, an anti-LGBTQ group tweeted that “Cracker Barrel has fallen. A once family-friendly establishment has caved to the mob.” The phrase “Cracker Barrel has fallen” went viral on the social media platform shortly afterwards.
We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen.
— Texas Family Project (@FamilyProjectTX) June 8, 2023
“Cracker Barrel, why do you hate your patrons? How did you come to despise your consumer base?” another Twitter user replied. “You have lost your mind if you think the thousands of people who drive out of their way to eat your middling food want this. Never again. No more bus loads for you.”
Cracker Barrel, why do you hate your patrons? How did you come to despise your consumer base? You have lost your mind if you think the thousands of people who drive out of their way to eat your middling food want this.
— Shelby Foote Appreciator⚓️ (@NoJesuitTricks) June 9, 2023
But many of the negative responses to the restaurant’s inclusivity were met with support from other Twitter users, proud of the company’s willingness to be accepting.
“Honestly, if your bigoted movement can’t even win over the f*****g Cracker Barrel it’s probably time to pack up and go home,” Twitter user Ari Drennen replied.
The post in support of Pride Month marks a departure from Cracker Barrel’s early history, when the company issued an internal memo calling for employees to be dismissed if they did not display “normal heterosexual values,” which allegedly led to the firing of at least 11 gay employees at various stores throughout the South.
For 10 years, starting in 1992, the company’s shareholders repeatedly voted down efforts to add sexual orientation to the company’s nondiscrimination policy. The restaurant chain was also criticized by LGBTQ groups for lacking inclusive health and partner benefits throughout much of the first two decades of the 21st century.
In 2019, after adopting many policy changes, the company earned an “80” on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which serves as a benchmarking tool on corporations’ pro-LGBTQ policies, practices, and benefits. It has continued to boast a score of 80 in subsequent years, including on the most recent index.
This show of support also potentially comes with risk to the company, as other major corporations like Budweiser and Target have experienced financial backlash and calls for boycotts after embracing the LGBTQ community in different ways. In Bud Light’s case, a partnership with a transgender TikTok influencer for a social media post was the incendiary event, while Target was forced to remove some of its Pride-themed merchandise from store shelves after employees were accosted or threatened with violence by anti-LGBTQ protesters.
Authorities say the alleged gunman in a mass shooting at a North Carolina waterfront restaurant -- which left three people dead and at least eight injured -- reportedly embraced anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories.
The shooting took place around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, at the American Fish Company in Southport, North Carolina, a popular waterfront bar that once appeared as a filming location for the movie Safe Haven.
Investigators allege that the suspect, 40-year-old Nigel Max Edge, was piloting a white center-console boat through a busy stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway lined with bars and restaurants. From just off the American Fish Company’s deck, he allegedly opened fire on the crowd, according to Fox News.
Leaked group chats show Young Republican leaders nationwide praising Hitler, making "jokes" about racism, slavery, rape, and Holocaust gas chambers, and routinely using racial and anti-gay slurs to describe ideological opponents -- including fellow Republicans, according to a bombshell report from Politico.
The Telegram chat logs -- some 2,900 pages of dialogue spanning January through mid-August 2025 -- were obtained by the D.C.-based outlet while it investigated a separate story about the group's debts and alleged financial mismanagement.
An unruly airline passenger ranting about anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories was arrested after flight crew diverted the plane to Chicago out of concern for the safety of others onboard.
The man was aboard a Sun Country flight that left Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 7:13 a.m. on October 3. According to passenger Seth Evans, a Minnesota native who now lives in New York, the man acted erratically throughout the flight.
Evans told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the man repeatedly stood up and screamed in between playing rounds of Candy Crush on his phone.
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