Chick-Fil-A is still donating to anti-LGBT organisations – over $1.6m in 2017

Once again, the chicken sandwich chain has been donating money to anti-LGBT organisations. Even though, in the Fall of 2012, it was announced that Chick-fil-A would stop doing just that.

According to recent tax filings first reported on by ThinkProgress, the chain donated $1,632,416 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which requires its employees to sign a policy that bars them from “homosexual acts.”

They also donated $150,000 to the Salvation Army, which has a record of opposing LGBTQ causes, and $6,000 to the Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Georgia home for troubled youth that has blamed “sexual, physical, and mental abuse of children” for creating an “explosion of homosexuality.”

Back in 2016, Chick-fil-A announced that going forward, it would not donate to groups with an anti-LGBTQ stance, with the except of the Salvation Army.

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 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.”

While Chick-fil-A threw some heavy duty donations around while the same-sex marriage debates were happening earlier this decade, the company has tried to temper its evangelical attitudes, last year proclaiming it has “no policy of discrimination against any group” after the “Rider U ” story broke,  it seems like they’re trying to spin technicalities here: Officially, it’s the Chick-fil-A Foundation that’s doing the donating here, not the main company. Still not a great look!

We encourage you to avoid Chick-Fil-A and if you’re craving a chicken sandwich, find a locally owned restaurant or diner and try their’s… you would be supporting your local small businesses too!