Chick-fil-A stops charitable support to Christian charities against gay marriage

Nov 18

Article By Antoinette Wallace // EEW Magazine // Faith + Culture

Chick-fil-A wants to be more inclusive.

The popular restaurant chain announced that it is ending charitable donations to three Christian organizations—including the Salvation Army— that oppose gay marriage in an effort to halt protests and broaden its customer base.

But the move by the Christian-owned business angered some of its loyal supporters within the faith community, and some have even threatened never to buy food from the business again.

The Atlanta-based company, America’s third largest fast-food chain behind McDonald’s and Starbucks, was not allowed to open new locations in the San Antonio and Buffalo airports this year because of its support of organizations that view homosexuality as a sin.

Starting next year, Chick-fil-A said it will focus its giving on three areas: hunger, homelessness and education.

In a statement, Chick-fil-A President Tim Tassopoulos says the company — which is closed on Sundays — will still consider donations to faith-based groups. The company wouldn’t say whether it will consider an organization’s position on gay rights before donating.

The Salvation Army, one of the largest and most popular charities in the US, told Christianity Today it is “saddened to learn that a corporate partner has felt it necessary to divert funding to other hunger, education and homelessness organizations—areas in which The Salvation Army, as the largest social services provider in the world, is already fully committed.”

The statement continued, “We serve more than 23 million individuals a year, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, we believe we are the largest provider of poverty relief to the LGBTQ+ population.”

Over the years, despite the backlash Chick-fil-A has dealt with for its traditional marriage stance, evangelicals have supported the restaurant chain and applauded its Christian values.

Across all social media platforms, traditional marriage advocates expressed outrage that the chain had chickened out.