Chick-fil-A Still Donating to Explicitly Anti-LGBTQ Groups

Since much of the LGBTQ community turned its back on the Chick-fil-A chain after its CEO harshly disparaged same-sex marriage in 2012, the company has claimed it's trying to mend fences. But the Georgia-based company's actions have done little to repair the fraught relationship -- and now a new report shows how little has actually changed.

Recently released tax filings, uncovered by ThinkProgress, show Chick-fil-A's charitable arm gave $1.8 million to three anti-LGBTQ organizations in 2017. Two of the groups specifically target LGBTQ people for ire. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes enforces a "sexual purity" policy that bars "homosexual acts." Meanwhile, the Paul Anderson Youth Home, which provides housing for troubled youth, "teaches boys that homosexuality is wrong" and that same-sex marriage is a "rage against Jesus Christ and his values." The athletic organization received over $1.65 million from Chick-fil-A, and the youth home was given $6,000.

Chick-fil-A also gave $150,000 to the Salvation Army, which has a checkered past with LGBTQ issues, but does not endorse blatant discrimination like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Paul Anderson Youth Home.

Even back in 2013, Chick-fil-A representatives said they were drawing back on their anti-LGBTQ giving. When confronted with the 2017 numbers, company officials told ThinkProgress they are ending their relationship with the youth home. Nothing was stated about the Salvation Army or the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the latter of which received the bulk of the company's anti-LGBTQ "philanthropy."

Since Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy stated that the U.S. was "inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage," the company has failed to add discrimination protections for its LGBTQ employees. It has a zero in the Human Rights Campaign's annual buyers guide.

In response, some cities and universities have decided the company is not welcome in their communities.