Did Chick-fil-A's Anti-LGBT Giving Double?

Chick-fil-A said they were leaving the politics to the government, as early as 2011. Think Progress says that ain't so.

Diane Anderson-Minshall

Diane Anderson-Minshall is the CEO of Pride Media, and editorial director of The Advocate, Out, and Plus magazine. She's the winner of numerous awards from GLAAD, the NLGJA, WPA, and was named to Folio's Top Women in Media list. She and her co-pilot of 30 years, transgender journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall penned several books including Queerly Beloved: A Love Across Genders.

Read Full Bio

Diane Anderson-Minshall

March 15 2013 10:40 AM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

deliciousdiane

Sorry to interrupt...
But we wanted to take a moment to thank you for reading. Your support makes original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Help us hold Trump accountable.

One-time Monthly

$19.67 $50 Other

$5 $19.67 $50

New IRS reports from Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation, obtained by Think Progress, suggest that the company did not, in 2011, retreate from giving to anti-LGBT groups. After an intense period of protest and counter-protest last year, Chick-fil-A released a statement saying that the corporate foundation would "leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena," which meant not contributing to anti-LGBT causes. In fact, the company statement said that the group had already begun following this mantra even before the media furor and boycotts.

But TP's Josh Israel reports that "in 2011, the group actually gave even more to anti-LGBT causes. Its contribution to the Marriage & Family Foundation jumped to $2,896,438 and it gave the same amount to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and National Christian Foundation as it had in 2010. In total, the anti-LGBT spending exceeded $3.6 million -- almost double the $1.9 million from the year before."

In addition, while Chick-fil-A/WinShape didn't give directly to Exodus International, one of their recipients, the National Christian Foundation did grant Exodus $4,100 and "a stunning $1,260,040" to Family Research Council, two of the most staunchly anti-gay groups out there.

Israel sums it up: "Chick-fil-A's 'charitable' contributions in 2011 were no less hateful than in 2010 -- just less transparent."