UPDATE 4:03 P.M. PST: News travels fast! We’re now learning a Texas airport has banned Chick-Fil-A over their the company’s foundation’s anti-LGBT controversy. San Antonio International Airport will not be eating mor chikin after city council members expressed concerns regarding the fast food restaurant’s history with donations. Per CBS, councilman Roberto Treviño said in a statement, “We don’t have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior.” In response to the news, the popular chicken chain told CBS they wished they could have been given the opportunity to “clarify misperceptions” as “Chick-fil-A embraces all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.”
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Chick-fil-A‘s charity, the Chick-fil-A Foundation, is still donating to problematic organizations.
According to newly released tax filings, in 2017, the foundation gave more than $1.8 million to three groups who many believe to have anti-LGBT viewpoints.
Related: Chick-Fil-A’s Public Approval Plummets!
The fast food chain’s charitable arm gave $1,653,416 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, $6,000 to the Paul Anderson Youth Home, and $150,000 to the Salvation Army — which is actually an increase from the previous year.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a religious organization that seeks to spread an anti-LGBT message to college athletes, and requires a strict “sexual purity” policy for its employees that bars any “homosexual acts.”
Paul Anderson Youth Home is a “Christian residential home for trouble youth” that teaches young men that homosexuality is wrong, and that same-sex marriage is “rage against Jesus Christ and His values.”
While the Salvation Army has a history of opposing legal protections for LGBT citizens, the organization’s website has since changed to indicate a national policy of non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Additionally, the company — known for selling chicken sandwiches — still refuses to include explicit protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in its employment non-discrimination policy.
In an interesting twist, on Tuesday, Chick-fil-A, Inc. told ThinkProgress that the group made a decision in 2017 to no longer donate to the Paul Anderson Youth Home moving forward.
However, they have not ceased their contributions to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or Salvation Army because the funds respectively support summer sports camps and various children’s programs. They said in a statement:
“[S]ince the Chick-fil-A Foundation was created in 2012, our giving has always focused on youth and education… We have never donated with the purpose of supporting a social or political agenda. There are 140,000 people — black, white; gay, straight; Christian, non-Christian — who represent Chick-fil-A. We are the sum of many experiences, but what we all have in common is a commitment to providing great food, genuine hospitality, and a welcoming environment to all of our guests.”
In 2012, when asked by The Baptist Press if his company had an established position against marriage equality, CEO Dan Cathy responded, “Well, guilty as charged,” adding:
“We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that… We operate as a family business… our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that… We intend to stay the course… We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”
In 2018, after Rider University declined to have the restaurant on-campus because of its alleged anti-LGBT attitudes, a company attorney said the chain has “no policy of discrimination against any group,” in addition to having no “political or social agenda.”
In a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“Rider University’s survey was recently brought to our attention, and while we respect the University’s decision, this news story represents a good opportunity to clarify misperceptions about our brand… Chick-fil-A is a restaurant company focused on food, service and hospitality, and our restaurants and licensed locations on college campuses welcome everyone. We have no policy of discrimination against any group, and we do not have a political or social agenda. More than 120,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs represent the Chick-fil-A brand.”
Thoughts? Will you still eat mor chikin?
[Image via Tai Urban/WENN.]
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