In-N-Out Burger isn’t only opposed to vaccine mandates. It also supports anti-LGBTQ politics

The In-N-Out hamburger chain is sizzling mad after San Francisco shut down its indoor dining for refusing to check customers’ vaccination status. Photo: Adam Lau / Associated Press

When San Francisco’s only In-N-Out Burger restaurant at Fisherman’s Wharf was temporarily closed by the Health Department for violating the city’s indoor vaccine mandate on Oct. 14, many were surprised. Then we learned that in addition to the company not checking customers for proof of vaccination in San Francisco, the Environmental Health Division in Pleasant Hill has received repeated complaints about that East Bay location also failing to do vaccine checks, resulting in fines of $750.

But for anyone who’s paid attention to the ins and outs of In-N-Out over the years, news that the fast-food chain refused to do the vaccine checks required by both counties should not have been a shock. Nor should its petulant response: “We refuse to become the vaccination police for any government.” The LGBTQ community has long been wary of the company, and with good reason.

In-N-Out, founded in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snyder in Baldwin Park (Los Angeles County), hasn’t been secretive about its leadership’s conservative religious or political beliefs. There are Bible verses on its packaging, something that has felt like a conservative dog whistle to many LGBTQ people. Rich Snyder, the son of Harry and Esther who ran the company until his death in 1993, was a well-known supporter of the Republican Party.

And yet In-N-Out has managed to mostly avoid the kind of controversy and criticism more outspoken chains like Chick-Fil-A (with its history of giving to anti-LGBTQ organizations) and Carl’s Jr. (a history of worker mistreatment and former CEO Andy Puzder’s support of Donald Trump) have provoked in recent years.

Until now, In-N-Out’s biggest public relations issue came in 2018, when the company donated $25,000 to the California Republican Party. In response, California Democratic Party Chair Eric Baum tweeted: “Et tu In-N-Out?” and suggested a Democratic boycott of the restaurant (which did not catch on). In 2019, it was also reported that In-N-Out CEO Mark Taylor, and his wife, Traci (half-sister of company owner Lynsi Snyder), have donated more than $15,000 to President Donald Trump and the national Republican Party since 2016.

More recently, The Chronicle discovered that In-N-Out contributed $40,000 to the California Republican Party in August.

The In-N-Out Burger on Jefferson Street in Fisherman’s Wharf was temporarily closed for failing to enforce the city’s vaccine mandate. Photo: Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle

So, why weren’t many of my friends and I surprised by the company’s recent anti-vaccine troubles? It might be because LGBTQ consumers have had to be vigilant about where we spend our money, even on something as banal as fast food. Many of us don’t like patronizing businesses that might turn around and support political parties or organizations that have worked to strip us of our rights.

The Republican Party of California platform states that marriage must be defined as “a union between one man and one woman.” Call me quirky, but it’s a personal peculiarity of mine that I can’t enjoy food sold to me by a restaurant company that financially supports a political party whose platform asserts that my marriage is detrimental to families. In-N-Out may not be guilty of supporting anti-LGBTQ causes in the same overt way as Chick-Fil-A, but there is certainly guilt by association.

Another personal idiosyncrasy: I prefer my food without a side of a preventable virus — and hold the mayo, too.

While the Republican Party has a long history of anti-LGBTQ policies, we’ve also seen the GOP become a party of misinformation and recklessness when it comes to the coronavirus, including promoting skepticism on vaccines and masking.

Now when I see an In-N-Out Burger, I’m not only going to wonder about whether their profits might be helping to fund a rollback of my rights, but also whether is it safe for anyone, of any political stripe, to eat there.

Related articles

In-N-Out blasts S.F. over vaccine mandate shutdown: ‘We refuse to become the vaccination police’

In-N-Out violated the vaccine mandate in Contra Costa County, too

Bay Area’s In-N-Out fanboying should have ended long before vaccine news

  • Tony Bravo
    Tony Bravo Tony Bravo's column appears Mondays in Datebook. Email: tbravo@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TonyBravoSF