Chick-fil-A has been boycotted by many people because of its political views and donations to anti-LGBTQ+ groups. A few days ago, the company came out and said that they would no longer donate to the groups that people were upset about. 

That would be really awesome if the damage had not been long past done. Chick-Fil-A has donated to The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in the past. The FCA requires all members to make a pledge that they are heterosexual. They call this the sexual purity statement. This is a company that actively stops LGBTQ+ Christian athletes from participating in this organization due to their sexual orientation. They actively encourage their members and others to reach out to them for help with the “sickness” that is homosexuality, bisexuality or being transgender. I have been unable to find information on how they plan to “help,” but the mere idea that there is something to be fixed is horrifying enough. 

If Chick-Fil-A cared about youth, Christianity and athletics, then why would it not just donate to a corporation or company that does not actively hate gay people? The reason that it chose this particular organization is because it is rooted in homophobic values. 

The Salvation Army, also known as those bell-ringers that ask for your money outside of Walmart, is one of the most harmful anti-LGBTQ+ groups that exist. They state on their website that, “Any person who comes through our doors will receive assistance based on their need and our capacity to help.” According to BurntOrange, Jennifer Gale was a transgender female veteran who was turned away from The Salvation Army’s shelters due to her LGBTQ+ status, and froze to death that night on the street. Austin Chronical claims that there is no evidence to support that is the reason that she was turned away, as if that matters. She was turned away by The Salvation Army despite being a veteran, and she died for it. 

The money that is donated to The Salvation Army funds a church. This church refused to support the Safe Schools Coalition anti-bullying act, according to outinperth.com. This act would stop anti-LGBTQ+ bullying in Australian schools. The Salvation Army claimed that they would be unable to support this act until there was “refinement to the scope and form of implementation.” The company brags about the shelters that are designated for LGBTQ+ individuals, but the pre-existing shelters do not provide the same treatment, or even decent treatment, to LGBTQ+ individuals who attempt to seek shelter, according to LGBTQ Nation.

One of the church’s drug abuse health shelter was also under fire by the NYC Commission on Human Rights. The press release stated that the church was under fire for “gender identity discrimination for refusing to accept transgender patients and for discriminatory housing policies, including assigning rooms based on a patient’s gender assigned at birth rather than their gender identity, subjecting patients to physical examinations and forcing transgender patients into separate rooms.”

According to the Trevor Project, lesbian, gay and bisexual youth seriously contemplate suicide at a rate three times higher than heterosexual youth. They are also five times more likely to attempt suicide. 40% of transgender people have reported to have attempted suicide in their lifetime, and 92% of those attempts are before 25 years of age. “Each episode of LGBT victimization, such as physical or verbal harassment or abuse, increases the likelihood of self-harming behavior by 2.5 times on average.” 

Chick-fil-A is a company that your family and friends are giving money to or are actively supporting, and their actions directly impact LGBTQ+ youth. Seeing a major corporation that many people are not boycotting or are idolizing for their anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, as an LGBTQ+ youth, is incredibly damaging and can lead to the aforementioned suicide attempts or acts of self-harm. Homophobia and transphobia in this country are out of control, and allowing a company as large as Chick-fil-A to get away with it is unacceptable.

The Salvation Army’s status as a horrible organization that would rather let LGBTQ+ people die than help them is not a recent development. This has been public knowledge for over ten years. Chick-fil-A just last year donated $1.65 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and $115,000 to The Salvation Army. The organization and whoever signed the paperwork confirming how much money they should send to these organizations were well aware of the implications. They knew that their money was going to be supporting discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. 

Chick-fil-A “changed their minds” for attention. They want a medal for not donating to hateful organizations anymore, when other companies as big as them or bigger never considered doing something so harmful. Whether they mean the apology or not is beside the point. They did it in the first place. The money has been donated, the funds have been used by organizations that want LGBTQ+ people to suffer and the funds have been allocated. No amount of apology can take back the damage that Chick-fil-A and The Salvation Army has done, unless they take the money away from the organizations they donated to. LGBTQ+ people have seen what they are doing or have experienced what their money has helped fund. 

Chick-fil-A, of course, is not the only company who is behaving this way. The onus is not solely on Chick-fil-A for making LGBTQ+ people experience suicidal thoughts or self-harm. If more information comes out about another corporation that is donating to The Salvation Army or the FCA, then they too should be boycotted. No youth should feel that a “really good chicken sandwich” is worth more than their livelihood. 

Conservative politicians who have supported Chick-fil-A in the past for their hateful rhetoric are furious with them for deciding to stop their donations. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee posted that he regrets “believing they would stay true to convictions of founder Truett Cathey.” The convictions that he speaks of is hating people for something that they cannot control. Some people claimed that LGBTQ+ activists are actually “bullies” for boycotting Chick-fil-A until they stop being homophobic. Hating LGBTQ+ people is still wildly popular, to the point that when activists suggest maybe Chick-fil-A’s money should not go to companies that help the suicide attempt rates of LGBTQ+ people rise, they are deemed bullies. Not wanting people to be discriminated against for their sexual orientation, according to many LGBTQ+ politicians and influencers, is being mean. 

There is no way to prove Chick-fil-A’s intentions in the cancelation of their donations. It could be genuinely remorseful for its actions and wish that they could take them back, but they cannot. Chick-fil-A did not apologize for their previous donations, instead citing that they would instead focus their resources on homelessness, hunger and education. The actions of Chick-fil-A, The Salvation Army and the FCA are unforgivable, and those who truly support the LGBTQ+ community should consider continuing boycotting them, and any other corporation that proves that they are homophobic. 

Photo from CBS News via YouTube