Chick-fil-A have donated millions more to homophobic and transphobic groups
PETA and LGBT community protest at Chick-fil-A on August 1, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (Tibrina Hobson/FilmMagic)
American fast food chain Chick-fil-A has donated another $1.8 million to anti-LGBT+ groups after backtracking on its promise not to do so anymore.
Chick-fil-A has a long history of opposing LGBT+ rights. The Baptist-owned company has given millions of dollars to anti-gay groups, leading to protests, boycotts, and several new branches being banned from opening.
Last month officials confirmed that they would stop donating to these causes and instead focus on education, homelessness and hunger. However the company quietly went back on this promise after meeting strong resistance from anti-LGBT+ conservatives and Republicans.
A statement on the Chick-fil-A website said the franchise was “happy and proud” of its 2018 donations, which include several Christian organisations that discriminate against LGBT+ people. And new tax documents from 2018 reveal more donations than previously thought.
Two donations of $825,000 went to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes , a conservative Christian sports ministry that requires staff to abide to a “sexual purity” policing, which forbids all “homosexual acts.”
A further donation of $115,000 went to the Salvation Army, another Christian charity that has long been condemned for its attitude towards the LGBT+ homeless. The charity denies this and says it now “better understands” the LGBT+ community.
This is in addition to $1.8 million in donations given to the FCA, the Salvation Army and the Paul Anderson Youth Home in 2017.
We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit.
— Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy in 2012
Last month, Chick-fil-A announced a new system for determining the organisations that it would donate to through its foundation.
“There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” said Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos.
“There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.”
