Chick-fil-A says it will stop funding anti-gay groups[Update 9/22/2012]

The pressure was too much was it?

Source

Chick-fil-A has agreed to stop funding groups with anti-same-sex marriage stances, according to a statement released Wednesday by LGBT advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda.

Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno, who had blocked the fast-food chain from opening stores in Chicago because of its anti-gay views, likewise announced he would now let Chick-fil-A open up new outlets after he received a letter this morning from the company stating that they would cease donating to the groups.

"Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena." Chick-fil-A wrote in an emailed statement to NBC News. Civil Rights Agenda (CRA) and Moreno's office did not respond to emailed requests.

Honestly, although I think the practice of funding anti-gay groups is insane, I have to say I am dismayed that they would forgo their rights to support whatever group they wanted, because of some people who disagreed.

What is American coming to when PC is taking over the basic rights of a company, it's owners and their *private* dealings with other organizations?

A shame really.


Update

I know that some of the days when the uproar about this on the net was strongest were also Chick Fil A's busiest and most profitable.

I wonder if this isn't a ploy to get back into the headlines again on the back of the same issue? I doubt that they have suddenly had a soul searching look into their policy and decided against it on moral grounds so theres got to be profit in it somewhere.

I suppose that after the initial surge of anti-gay consumer support, Chick-fil-a's regular, everyday consumers began to send a message; a message that affected Chick-fil-a's profit margin.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
although I think the practice of funding anti-gay groups is insane, I have to say I am dismayed that they would forgo their rights to support whatever group they wanted, because of some people who disagreed.

I fully agree with you. I support marriage equality ('gay marriage'), and I also support the right of people to boycott a business that they feel is in opposition to how you believe ... but I also support Chick-Fil-A running their business in a manner that follows their faith and they have a right to support any faith-based group they want. Chick-fil-A backing down like this??? Something about this just doesn't sound right. There has to be more to this then is coming out ....

Some people put money before beliefs.


In this case i am glad they did..

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Too bad... i was hoping the religous idiots would keep putting their mouth where their faith is and showing the public how deluded they are.

Just wait till the christians and mormons let the cat out of the bag that they think black people are the cursed decendants of Ham whom god punished.

what a dissapointment, and here I thought there was one big business with some principle left.

reply to post by FlyersFan


I"m thinking that as well.

Maybe they felt too much pressure from advertisers? There are a lot of media companies that won't run ads for companies that have a bad image like that.

~Tenth

Whatever the reason.
It is a positive step forward.
And I applaud Chick-Fil-A for it's actions.

No one should be discriminated against.

reply to post by tothetenthpower

The thing is ... all these years they have run on being VERY Christian, even to the point of being closed on Sundays. They didn't care what anyone thought. The owners ran it according to their faith.

Now suddenly .... AFTER all the furor has died down ... they suddenly abandon their faith practices of donating money to their favorite christian group. This christian group believes in 'traditional marriage', but that is only a very small part of what the charity group does.

So suddenly now that everything is quiet and returning to normal, Chick Fil-A owners abandon their Christian charity of choice and bow to special interest pressure? Really? WHY?

- was it money? It doesn't look like Chick-Fil-A suffered from the supposed boycott. And they never worried about their beliefs causing money loss prior to this (Closing stores on all Sundays).

- was it public pressure? But things have died down and gone back to normal.

- was it because they really weren't Christian to begin with? But all these years they lost money by keeping the store closed on Sundays in accordance with their faith. So it doesn't look like they were faux-Christian or worried about money.

- Did they suddenly become pro- 'gay marriage'?? Doesn't look like it.

It's just STRANGE. And what we know about this isn't adding up.

They either did this to get back in the headlines or because they predicted funding these groups would hurt them financially in the long run. BS on their stated reason.

I hope you'll forgive me, but I've been on a little rant lately, and I might as well continue it here. It's the First Amendment. It seems like that has been under attack from all quarters lately. I don't mean the technical reading, "Congress shall make no law . . .," but the idea that we can be made to shut up if we disagree with the government, or Obama, or Islam, or the gay movement, or who knows what else.

True, except in some cases, it's not Congress doing it, but where did we as a people get the idea that we should try to force those who disagree with us to shut up? Why are we so comfortable with censoring ourselves?

Don't misunderstand. Yes, there are a few (a very few) limits that must be obseved, and no, I'm not accusing everybody, let alone all ATSers, but that's not what we're seeing. The US Constitution is unique in the world today. Our rights aren't handed to us by the whim of the government. The government has only the power that the people agree to give it. The rights of the people come from God (or the inherent nature of man, if you're not religious). Officials and the military pledge to defend the Constitution.

Can we agree that NDAA, and Fatwas, death threats, harassment and vandalism to people we simply disagree with, are just too much to be accepted?

For some time now, this issue has been popping up from news reports, Executive Orders, discussions here on ATS, and even from friends.

Tothetenthpower and other posters here have noticed it. I'm glad of that. Can we somehow get others to see it's importance, too?

End of mini-rant.

I really don't see that Chick-Fil-A was "forced" to do anything. They were free to continue to put their money where they wanted; free speech allows anyone to disagree; consumers are free to not shop there. I don't know why Chick-Fil-A decided all of a sudden to stop donating to anti-gay groups, but I think they willingly decided to do so. It may be that they will get around the bad press by having the CEO donate only his personal money on the down low, with no more company donations.

Its pretty sad when we can block a business from opening because of what the owners believe in. No matter what side of the argument you are on THAT should make you angry because it could happen to you.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
The pressure was too much was it?

Source

Chick-fil-A has agreed to stop funding groups with anti-same-sex marriage stances, according to a statement released Wednesday by LGBT advocacy group The Civil Rights Agenda.

Chicago Alderman Joe Moreno, who had blocked the fast-food chain from opening stores in Chicago because of its anti-gay views, likewise announced he would now let Chick-fil-A open up new outlets after he received a letter this morning from the company stating that they would cease donating to the groups.

"Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena." Chick-fil-A wrote in an emailed statement to NBC News. Civil Rights Agenda (CRA) and Moreno's office did not respond to emailed requests.

Honestly, although I think the practice of funding anti-gay groups is insane, I have to say I am dismayed that they would forgo their rights to support whatever group they wanted, because of some people who disagreed.

What is American coming to when PC is taking over the basic rights of a company, it's owners and their *private* dealings with other organizations?

A shame really.

Freedom of choice.

If you stand on a street corner and preach, expect to upset people and lose friends. The same happens to companies.

I'm not going to support a company meddling in the rights of citizens, that's my choice, and you cannot force me to buy a product or service from a company I find disgusting.

Deal with it.

If you like their stance, support them. Millions don't support their stance, and those people chose to boycott them. That's their choice, and there is nothing you can do about it.

Originally posted by Dnepropetrovsk
Its pretty sad when we can block a business from opening because of what the owners believe in. No matter what side of the argument you are on THAT should make you angry because it could happen to you.

Companies are NOT people. If a company supports something, that company can expect to upset some of their customers.

People, individuals, can believe whatever they like, but the moment you bring your business into it you are opening yourself up to attack.

It amazes me that so-called professionals haven't figured this out yet. For every political point a business makes they risk losing potentially millions of $'s.

Don't like it? STAY OUT OF POLITICS!

just goes to show what God they truly worship - the almighty dollar!

I'm glad their airing their opinions hurt their bottom line. Maybe they figured they now need to raise extra money to make sure they can buy their way into heaven.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


It just means they're going to put some funds directly towards changing the political atmosphere. Operate more behind the scene on this issue.

At least that's the way I interpret it.

reply to post by detachedindividual


I really don't care what they support or what they believe in, the fact that the company was stopped from opening because of the owners political beliefs is crap. If it were the other way around and some company was being blocked because the owners gave money to pro-gay groups then all hell would have broken lose.

Originally posted by Nana2
what a dissapointment, and here I thought there was one big business with some principle left.

Nobody wants to be the last place with a whites only water fountain.