Has Chick Fil-A Stopped Funding Anti-Gay Marriage Groups?

If you can remember all the way back to early August, then you’ll recall that the head of fast food chain Chick fil-A had stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy by publicly stating his stance against same-sex marriage. The eatery came under further scrutiny by some because a non-profit funded by Chick fil-A has reportedly donated a significant amount of money to groups opposed to same-sex marriage. But an LGBT rights group out of Chicago now claims that these donations will cease.

According to this release from The Civil Rights Agenda, Chick fil-A’s Senior Director of Real Estate wrote a letter to a Chicago alderman who had been hoping to block the chain from opening a store in his neighborhood.

In the letter, the Chick fil-A exec attempts to allay the alderman’s fears about the Chick fil-A-funded WinShape Foundations.

“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,” reads an excerpt from the letter.

TCRA claims that Chick fil-A execs have chosen to stop using WinShape money to donate to groups like Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage.

“We are very pleased with this outcome and thank Alderman Moreno for his work on this issue,” said Anthony Martinez, executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda. “I think the most substantive part of this outcome is that Chick-fil-A has ceased donating to organizations that promote discrimination, specifically against LGBT civil rights. It has taken months of discussion, both with our organization and with the Alderman, for Chick-fil-A to come forward with these concessions and we feel this is a strong step forward for Chick-fil-A and the LGBT community, although it is only a step.”

The group claims that an internal memo has been sent to franchisees to remind them that company will “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect-regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender.”

We’ve reached out to Chick fil-A for an official comment on this story and will update if they respond.

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