Chick-Fil-A Headquarters Releases Statement in Response to Backlash Over Location Celebrating Gay Couple

It’s no secret that fast food restaurant chain Chick-Fil-A has a less than stellar reputation in supporting the LGBTQ+ community. From donating to anti-LGBTQ+ charities to the company COO Dan T. Cathy once admitting he and the company opposed same-sex marriage it seems like Chic-Fil-A aint checking for the Gayes.

With all this in mind the internet was a bit shocked when a Chick-Fila-A in Orem, Utah, took to their social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram to celebrate a young same sex couple who had recently gotten married.

“CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HAPPY COUPLE!” the post reads. “Dougie & Toby recently got married and we are so beyond happy for them!”

The comment section on the post had mixed reactions. Some called out the location for straying away from the parent companies’ staunch religious and oftentimes anti LGBTQ+ stance. User @its.slasa commented “I thought they were a Christian company??” Another user @sharlene_adventures responded to @ts.slasa writing “a Christian is supposed to love everyone and let God judge. Do better!”

Another comment by @shei76550 tagged the official Chick-Fil-A account writing “really? What happened to honoring God? This is wrong.”

While the negative comments took up space on the post, many were positive with users congratulating the pair for tying the knot and celebrating the location for being inclusive. User @christophercwhite625 wrote “Congradulations!! And good for you for celebrating them publicly”. Another user @gentriezimmerman echoed the same sentiment writing “Love seeing a chick fila post this!! Congrats from a random stranger.” ending the comment with hearts and clapping hands emoji.

To just about no one’s surprise anti-LGBTQ+ group the Family Research Council (FRC) was up in arms about the post. In an article posted to their
Washington Stand website the FRC called the restaurant’s post “waffles on wokeness”. And further attacked them for “condoning a message that is radically at odds with the biblical values that most people associate them with.”

Another portion of the article calls out Chick-Fil-A for “quietly still condoning a message that is radically at odds with the biblical values that most people associate them with — including same-sex marriage”.

In response to the controversy, Chick-fil-A’s corporate office reportedly issued an automated statement that appears when complaints are submitted through its website, addressing concerns about inclusive store practices. The statement reads: “Chick-fil-A embraces all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”

The statement continued saying “Chick-fil-A, Inc. is committed to being Better at Together by embedding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) in everything we do. We strive to provide a welcoming and inclusive place for everyone. We do this by focusing on Chick-fil-A’s four Corporate Social Responsibility pillars: Caring for People, Caring for our Communities, Caring for Others through our Food, and Caring for our Planet.”

The statement is seemingly progress (some might call it very loose progress) for the restaurant chain who has been called out for decades for their financial allegiance to groups that have opposed to LGBTQ+ rights.

In 2012, Chick-Fil-A was embroiled in scandal when their COO Dan T. Cathy publicly said he was “”very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit” and that they “give God thanks” for being married to their first wives.

His comments were met with backlash and boycotts of the company began as his comments were interpreted as Cathy being against marriage equality.

In response to the 2012 backlash, Chick-Fil-A released a statement saying, “The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honour, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 restaurants run by independent owner/operators. “Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”

They continued writing, “From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically-based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family.”

Years later in 2017 the company was once again called out for their $1,653,416 donation to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes a non-profit Christian sports ministry that requires staff to accept “sexual purity” policing, forbids “homosexual acts.”

That same year, they also donated $6,000 to the Paul Anderson Youth Home, a Christian residential home that “teaches boys that homosexuality is wrong,” and that same-sex marriage is a “rage against Jesus Christ and his values.

In November 2019 after years of backlash the restaurant’s charitable arm The Chick-fil-A Foundation’s November 2019 announced a new charitable-donations strategy for 2020 which would cut donations for many of the anti LGBT+ groups it had donated to in the past.

In a statement regarding their new charity strategy they released a statement saying “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.

When misinformation is perpetuated without fact, our ability to serve those in need, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, religion or any other factor, is at risk. We urge the public to seek the truth before rushing to ill-informed judgment and greatly appreciate those partners and donors who ensure that anyone who needs our help feels safe and comfortable to come through our doors.”

When asked by Snopes if they had cut donations for some of the groups due to their anti-LGBTQ+ stance a spokesperson seemingly evaded the question saying “”provide maximum impact and maximum clarity with our charitable dollars.”