Business & Tech

Chick-fil-A Backs Away from Funding Anti-Gay Organizations

In a letter to Chicago alderman Joe Moreno, Chick-fil-A said it would not support organizations with political agendas.

Chick-fil-A will cease donations to anti-gay organizations and is circulating an internal memo to treat everyone equally, regardless of sexual oritentation, according to a release by the organization The Civil Rights Agenda

The Civil Rights Agenda, said it worked closely with Alderman Joe Moreno as he negotiated with executives of Chick-fil-A.

After Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy said his business was "guilty as charged" in support of the "biblical definition of the family unit," Moreno said he would use aldermanic privilege to block a proposed Chick-fil-A from opening in his ward. 

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A letter addressed to Alderman Moreno and signed by Chick-fil-A’s Senior Director of Real Estate states:

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“The WinShape Foundations is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas.”  

Winshape, a non-profit funded by Chick-fil-a, has donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBT groups, including some classified as hate groups.  In meetings the company executives clarified that they will no longer give to anti-gay organizations.

The memo sent to employees said that as a company, Chick-fil-A will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect-regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender” and that their “intent is not to engage in political or social debates.” 

Slate had this take

While Moreno described the apparent change in Chick-fil-A policy as a "big win," the Chicago Tribune keeps things in perspective:

"[T]he company made nearly identical pledges in a July 19 Facebook post that went up even before Moreno took issue with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's opposition to gay marriage. The statement of respect also falls short of Moreno's goal of adding language opposing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the company's employee handbook."

The Bolingbrook Chick-fil-A location opened Sept. 6. 


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