I'd be a fool not to ask...

Dang right it is! Real chili does NOT have beans. Period. Beans are filler, like when they put potato chunks in beef enchiladas, or like when you get a taco with a little bit of meat and chingos of lettuce.

I'm the same way - and I get really irritated by people who wear sexual orientation (or race, or ethnicity, or gender) on their sleeve.