Community Corner
Do You Believe Chick-fil-A Has Nothing Against LGBT People?
Northeastern University voted against bringing a Chick-fil-A franchise to campus because of the company's history of donations to anti-LGBT charities, but Chick-fil-A says they're not against anyone. Do you buy it?
After the senators of Northeastern's Student Government voted 31-5 to not bring Chick-fil-A to campus, the Northeastern administration confirmed that Chick-fil-A is no longer in the running for a space in Northeastern's new student center, according to this article in The Huntington News, Northeastern's student newspaper.
Chick-fil-A is upset that they won't be coming to Northeastern's campus, and they consider the decision "hasty," as they say in this article in the Boston Globe.
In that article a Chick-fil-A spokesperson says, "Chick-fil-A has been scrutinized of late about our charitable giving, specifically through our WinShape Foundation, and whether or not we have some hidden political agenda. We don’t. Our agenda is simple: to graciously serve great food and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."
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A January statement from Chick-fil-A president Dan T. Cathy in that article also quotes him saying, "Again, we have no political agenda, policy or position against anyone, especially the LGBT community."
However, in 2009 the WinShape foundation gave $994,199 dollars in 2009 to the Marriage & Family Legacy Fund, a group that supports "traditional marriage," and gave funds to Exodus International, a group that believes GLBT folks can be "cured" by religion, and to the Family Research Council and Focus On The Family.
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On the Family Research Council's website they state their position on gay rights, saying that "Family Research Council believes that homosexual conduct is harmful to the persons who engage in it and to society at large, and can never be affirmed. It is by definition unnatural, and as such is associated with negative physical and psychological health effects."
Patch reader, is this a charity you would donate to if you considered yourself okay with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender identities? Do you think that Chick-fil-A can still donate to these organizations and say that they have no position against anyone, or are they trying to have their chicken filet and eat it too? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.