The Culinary Union continues to make itself look ridiculous this week with another attack on the UFC, this time also taking in the singer and actress Mandy Moore and apparently declaring itself to be against free speech in the process (unless it is speech that the union approves of, of course)
For those who don’t know the background, a quick recap: The Culinary Union has a disagreement with the Fertitta brothers about staffing their Las Vegas casino chain Station Casinos. Unable to gain any headway there, they have used their political sway to block the UFC getting into New York and recently began a concerted – and rather pathetic – online campaign centered around a website called UnfitForChildren.com (see what they did there?)
The basis of the Culinary Union’s campaign is that the UFC is unsuitable to be on the airwaves because (i) Dana White and the fighters swear a lot and (ii) some of them have occasionally used the word ‘faggot’ as an insult, which the Culinary Union says is clear evidence of concerted homophobia.
It was this latter line that the union took when trying to get the US Marine Corps to distance itself from the UFC and stop advertising with the organisation as part of its recruitment drive. The union rustled up some pressure group or other which was apparently ‘concerned’ about the Marine Corps’ association with the UFC but common sense won out and the effort went nowhere.
Now the union is going after Mandy Moore – a self-professed UFC fanatic – and accusing her of not being a good role model for young ladies, based on her declarations of UFC fandom. Why on earth the union feels that this attack on her first amendment rights to free speech will produce any benefit is anybody’s guess, but as the video has under 6,000 views the UFC and Moore seem safe for the time being.
