Chick-fil-A Donated Nearly $2 Million To Anti-Gay Groups In 2009

Chick-fil-A has long been mentioned as one of the most anti-gay companies out there, even though company president, Dan Cathy denies having an “agenda against anyone.” But last year an Equality Matters investigation has revealed that Chick-fil-A had donated more than $1 million to anti-gay causes between 2003 and 2008, and now they are reporting that the company donated $1.7 million to anti-gay groups in 2009 alone. But they don't have an "agenda against anyone."

WinShape, Chick-fil-A's charitable arm, which was created by company founder and chairman, S. Truett Cathy, received more than $7 million in funding from Chick-fil-A, and then turned around and gave nearly $2 million of that money to anti-gay groups like:

• Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199
• Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000
• National Christian Foundation: $240,000
• Focus On The Family: $12,500
• Eagle Forum: $5,000
• Exodus International: $1,000
• Family Research Council: $1,000

I'm sure most people remember that, in January 2011, a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Pennsylvania donated food to the group Family Life to put on an event called the "Art Of Marriage". Both Chick-fil-A and co-sponsor, the   Pennsylvania Family Institute [PFI], were initially listed as sponsors of the event, although Chick-fil-A had it's name removed from event ads after the story broke.

Chick-fil-A president and COO Dan Cathy released a statement denying that Chick-fil-A's donation was an endorsement of traditional marriage, arguing that Chick-fil-A has "no agenda against anyone," and that the company would not "champion any political agendas" relating to marriages or families.

And yet they spent $1.7 million in 2009 for groups to do the hate work for them. I recently posted about LGBT-friendly companies, and how we, as a community, should support those businesses [Home Depot, Macy's, Subaru, Absolut, American Airlines] but we should also make sure that companies that fund anti-gay causes, anti-equality causes, anti-marriage causes, not receive one dime from the LGBT community and our allies.

See, you wanna have a chicken sandwich and you stop in at Chick-fil-A, a portion of the money you spend goes to fight against you. And I don't think anyone wants that.

via EqualityMatters