Fast food chain Chick-fil-A has claimed before that the company has no political agenda. The Atlanta-based chain has gotten a reputation for being anti-LGBTQ+ but the company has been trying to downplay that message in recent years
Chick-fil-A promised it would no longer fund anti-LGBTQ+ groups, but recent tax documents show that the company donated $1.8 million to anti-LGBTQ+ groups in 2017—including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Paul Anderson Youth Home and the Salvation Army.
The Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a Christian sports ministry that requires strict “sexual purity” and for employees to refrain from “homosexual acts.” The Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Georgia-based Christian residential home for boys, teaches that homosexuality is wrong and that same-sex marriage is “rage against Jesus Christ and His values.” The Salvation Army has a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination, including referring LGBTQ+ people to conversion therapy.
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Chick-fil-A also still refuses to include protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in its employment non-discrimination policy. Human Rights Campaign gave Chick-fil-A a zero on its annual buyers guide.
According to ThinkProgress, Chick-fil-A made a decision in 2017 to stop donating to the Paul Anderson Youth Home but hasn’t ended contributions to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or Salvation Army.
After the news broke, the city of San Antonio, Texas, voted to ban Chick-fil-A from opening a new location in the San Antonio airport.
“San Antonio is a city full of compassion, and we don’t have room in our public facilities for a business with a legacy of anti-LGBTQ behavior,” says District 1 City Councilman Roberto C. Treviño in a statement. “Everyone has a place here and everyone should feel welcome when they walk through our airport.”
