Chick-fil-A Turning Chick-fil-Gay?

Chick-fil-A, chicken restaurant notorious for its founder’s anti-LGBTQ+ donations, has decided to turn a new leaf. In an effort to expand their poultry empire across the Atlantic to the British Isles, Chick-fil-A has been working with LGBTQ+ advocacy group in the U.K., Stonewall.

When Chick-fil-A first made an attempt to establish itself across the pond, it was met with protests and backlash for its anti-LGBTQ+ history. The protests caused the near-immediate closure of the chains established in Reading, just west of London, and in the Scottish Highlands.

The Cathy family, owners and founders of the chicken restaurant, have long been known to donate to groups such as the Marriage & Family Foundation, ex-gay therapy group Exodus International, and the Georgia Family Council, all of which are anti-LGBTQ+. Chick-fil-A established itself right away as the most Christian, god-fearing chicken shop in the U.S. In 2017, they donated to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which opposes same-gender marriage, and the Salvation Army, which has its own slew of anti-LGBTQ+ history and actions.

Now, the chain hopes to return to the Isles, backed by a prepared PR team, and with the blessing of Stonewall, U.K. advocacy group mentioned above. They plan to launch five shops, one each in London, Liverpool and Leeds, with two in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Their hopeful expansion to the U.K. is not the first time they’ve backed away from their anti-LGBTQ+ roots. In 2019, they restructured their charity guidelines to exclude anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. This raised concern and attacks from the U.S. religious right, which had defended the chain’s anti-LGBTQ+ stance viciously.

When the far right caught up to Chick-fil-A’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, they did what they always do, accused the chain of “going woke.”

Spokesperson for Chick-fil-A, Bryan Malenius, touts the company’s anti-discrimination policy as “all-encompassing,” and as they work with Stonewall, a representative of the advocacy group states, “We have had some recent conversations with Chick-fil-A about the training and services we could provide to support the company on this journey.”

We will have to see if Chick-fil-A can turn their reputation around, but to see the effort made is a step in the right direction.