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This is nothing new for Cracker Barrel.

LGBT policies
In early 1991, an intra-company memo called for employees to be dismissed if they did not display "normal heterosexual values". According to news reports, at least 11 employees were fired under the policy on a store-by-store basis from locations in Georgia and other states.[10][17] After demonstrations by gay rights groups, the company ended its policy in March 1991 and stated it would not discriminate based on sexual orientation.[99][100] The company's founder, Dan Evins, subsequently described the policy as a mistake.[10] From 1992 onward,[101] the New York City Employees Retirement System, then a major shareholder, put forward proposals to add sexual orientation to the company's non-discrimination policy. An early proposal in 1993 was defeated, with 77 percent against and only 14 percent in support, along with 9 percent abstaining.[102] It was not until 2002 that the proposals were successful; 58 percent of company shareholders voted in favor of the addition.[99]
Cracker Barrel achieved the lowest score (15 out of 100) of all rated food and beverage companies in the Human Rights Campaign's 2008 Corporate Equality Index, a measure of LGBT workplace equality.[103] Their score for 2011 had increased to a 55. The 2011 survey noted that the firm had established a non-discrimination policy and had introduced diversity training that included training related to sexual orientation.[104] However, the company's score for 2013 dropped to a 35 out of 100, not having obtained the points related to non-discrimination toward gender identity and health benefits for partners of LGBT employees and transgender-inclusive benefits.[105] In 2019, Cracker Barrel earned a score of 80 on the index, and maintained that score in the 2020 and 2021 reports.[106][107][108]
On December 20, 2013, Cracker Barrel announced it would no longer sell certain Duck Dynasty products which it was "concerned might offend some of [its] guests"[109] after Phil Robertson, a star of the reality TV show, remarked in a GQ interview:[110]
Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolators, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right.
— Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson
Robertson also made "comments likening homosexuality to terrorism and bestiality" in the interview, and expressed views about race which attracted criticism. On December 22, less than two days after pulling the products from its shelves, Cracker Barrel reversed its position after protests from customers.[111][112][113]
Beginning in 2016, the company adopted a pro-LGBT stance, developing an internal diversity council which included LGBTQ members. Since 2017, the company has sponsored Out & Equal, a workplace-equality non-profit organization.[114] In 2018, Cracker Barrel developed a limited edition of the chain's signature rocking chairs featuring an LGBT rainbow pattern. The company donated these "Rainbow Pride Rockers" to various pro-LGBTQ organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Pride, and Out & Equal Workplace Summit.[115][116]
In 2019, the company announced it would not permit Grayson Fritts, a Knox County, Tennessee cop and pastor at All Scripture Baptist Church who has called for the execution of LGBTQ people, to hold an event in one of its restaurants.[117][118]