HRC: Chick-Fil-A Gave Nearly $2 Million to Antigay Groups in 09

Last September there was a hue and cry over the opening of the “traditional values” corporation Chick-fil-A drive-through on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. But only the media and Chick-fil-A fans showed up for the opening; no protesters.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign pointed out that Chick-fil-A has a history of financially supporting “hate groups.” Here’s a cross-post of their post on HRC Backstory:

Earlier this year, Good As You’s Jeremy Hooper discoveredthat Chick-fil-A was supporting an anti-equality “Art of Marriage” event in Pennsylvania. At the time, Chick-fil-A issued a statement insisting the donation was an endorsement of traditional marriage and didn’t represent any “agenda against anyone.”

It looks like that isn’t the case.

Equality Matters today released new research showing that Chick-fil-A gave a near jaw-dropping $2 million to anti-gay groups in 2009, the most recent year for which 990s are available. Check out Equality Matters’ findings. According to their report, the restaurant chain has donated to hate groups, groups working against marriage equality and groups advocating the roundly disproven ex-gay movement. Highlights include:

• $480,000 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a group that has publically denounced the “impure lifestyle” of LGBT Americans;
• $12,500 to Focus on the Family, identified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center back in 2005; and
• $1,000 to Exodus International – a group that promotes the unsafe practice of ex-gay therapy.

The numbers uncovered in this latest report take any meaning out of Chick-fil-A’s initial response in January that they were not anti-gay. In fact, the company’s giving pattern paints a picture of an organization supporting some of the most anti-gay groups and practices out there. Watch HRC’s Director of Communications Michael Cole-Schwartz speak earlier this year on Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay giving:

Tagged as: antigay corporations, Chick Fil A, Human Rights Campaign