Investigation Reveals Depth of Chick-Fil-A's Ties to Anti-Gay Causes
March 22, 2011 10:04 am ET by Tom Allison, Carlos Maza, & Christine Schwen
When two Missouri organizations, the Clayton Chamber of Commerce and FOCUS St. Louis, decided earlier this month to cancel a presentation by Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy over his company's controversial affiliations, they made the right decision. Although Cathy has unequivocally denied being anti-LGBT and claimed that he and the company have "no agenda against anyone" and "will not champion any political agendas on marriage and family," Equality Matters research proves just the opposite. In fact, the company has strong, deep ties to anti-gay organizations like Focus on the Family and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and its charitable division has provided more than $1.1 million to organizations that deliver anti-LGBT messages and promote egregious practices like reparative therapy that seek to "free" people of being gay.
1. Winshape: Over $1.1M Given To Anti-Gay Groups
The WinShape Foundation is Chick-fil-A's charitable arm, created by Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy in 1984. WinShape has received a substantial amount of funding from Chick-fil-A: in 2008 alone, WinShape received $12,595,819 from Chick-fil-A Inc. [WinShape 2008 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11; Chick-fil-A, accessed 2/8/11]
WinShape oversees a number of programs intended to foster the "growth and education of young people" as well as to promote "healthy marriages and strong families." But an examination of the WinShape Foundation's publicly available IRS 990 forms reveals that the WinShape Foundation supports a wide variety of anti-equality groups. [WinShape Fact Sheet, accessed 2/4/11]
TOTAL WINSHAPE DONATIONS: $1.1M ($1,142,450) to anti-gay groups from 2003-2008, the last year for which public records are available.
National Christian Foundation: $631,600
Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000
Serving Marriages, Inc.: $15,000
Alliance Defense Fund: $5,000
Christian Camp And Conference Association: $5,000
Campus Crusade for Christ: $2,850
Georgia Family Council: $2,000
Family Research Council: $1,000
[WinShape IRS Form 990 via Foundation Center, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; figures added by organization for clarity]
http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201103220005
$631,600 to National Christian Foundation
The National Christian Foundation is a grant-making foundation that has made "hundreds of grants" to anti-gay groups like Focus on the Family, Family Life, and the Family Research Council, according to the Philanthropy Roundtable's publication "Reviving Marriage In America: Strategies for Donors." NCF allows donors to direct their donations and has experienced a surge in interest among donors in funding marriage-related giving. [Philanthropy Roundtable, accessed 2/8/11].
WinShape donations to NCF:
2006: $172,500 [WinShape 2006 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
2007: $187,500 [WinShape 2007 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
2008: $271,600 [WinShape 2008 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$480,000 to Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Every year, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) holds a National College Conference that the conference Director, Danny Burns, described as where "God freed some people from homosexuality, sexual sins, addictions and even ushered newcomers into His Kingdom". [Fellowship of Christian Athletes, accessed 2/8/11]
The application to become an FCA Ministry Leader requires applicants to agree with the FCA's Sexual Purity Statement, which condemns gays as engaging in an "Impure Lifestyle":
God desires His children to lead pure lives of holiness. The Bible is clear in teaching on sexual sin including sex outside of marriage and homosexual acts. Neither heterosexual sex outside of marriage nor any homosexual act constitute an alternate lifestyle acceptable to God. [FCA Application, accessed 2/8/11]
The FCA website also includes a testimonial from a coach who had been "delivered" away from homosexuality. [FCA, accessed 2/8/11]
WinShape donations to FCA:
2007: $240,000 [WinShape 2007 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
2008: $240,000 [WinShape 2008 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$15,000 to Serving Marriages Inc.
Serving Marriages is an organization focused on honoring God through building "Biblically accurate marriage models for society to pattern." Serving Marriages' ministry advisers include WinShape, The Marriage CoMission, and the Georgia Family Council, all of which are established as promoting anti-LGBT work in this document. [Serving Marriages, accessed 2/8/11]
WinShape donations:
2008: $15,000 [WinShape 2008 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$5,000 to Alliance Defense Fund
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) is aggressively anti-gay, labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of America's most influential groups fighting against LGBT equality. In a recent article, the ADF called efforts to advance LGBT equality "The principal threat to your religious freedom":
Their strategy is twofold: dilute moral values so that homosexual behavior is thought to be normal, natural, and good, while suppressing the religious and free speech rights of those who disagree. If they successfully impose their radical legal agenda, then all people - especially Christians - who do not affirm homosexual behavior could be silenced, punished, and possibly even jailed for so-called discrimination and intolerance. [Southern Poverty Law Center, Spring 2005; Alliance Defense Fund, accessed 2/8/11]
WinShape donations to ADF:
2006: $2,500 [WinShape 2007 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
2008: $2,500 [WinShape 2008 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$5,000 to Christian Camp and Conference Association
The Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA) is an organization that encourages member organizations to hold Christian camps and conferences. It also offers advice on how to improve the "performance and impact" of these camps. [CCCA, accessed 2/9/11] [WinShape 2006 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
The CCCA advises camp counselors to resist today's "media-led promotion of alternative lifestyles," and prepares them to effectively convey why homosexuality is wrong to campers. [CCCA Focus Series, accessed 2/8/11]
WinShape donations to CCCA:
2006: $5,000 [WinShape 2006 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$2,850 to Campus Crusade for Christ
The anti-gay Family Life, which hosted the "Art of Marriage" event that ignited the controversy, is a Ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. [CCCI, accessed 2/8/11] [WinShape 2004 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
WinShape donations to CCC:
2004: $2,850 [WinShape 2004 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$2,000 to Georgia Family Council
The Georgia Family Council is a typical anti-gay group: its website contains posts arguing in favor of California's Proposition 8 and criticizing Apple for removing an application that promotes the argument that marriage equality is a threat to children and traditional marriage. [Georgia Family Council, 1/21/11; Georgia Family Council, accessed 2/8/11]
Randy Hicks, president of the Georgia Family Council (GFG), is a vocal critic of marriage equality; he has argued gay marriage would harm children and undermine traditional marriages. [By Faith, October 2006]
WinShape donations to GFC:
2005: $2,000 [WinShape 2005 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
$1,000 to Family Research Council
The Family Research Council has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its misleading attacks on the LGBT community. [The Washington Times, 11/24/10]
WinShape donations to FRC:
2003: $1,000 [WinShape 2003 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 2/8/11]
....
4. Sponsorship Of Anti-Gay Hate Group Affiliate
Since 2008, Chick-fil-A has been a sponsor of All Pro Dad, a program created by the Tampa-based organization Family First, also known as the "Florida Family Council." The Florida Family Council is an affiliate of the American Family Association, which has been designated as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. [The Gospel According to Disney, 2004; SPLC, Spring 2005]
Chick-fil-A Sponsors All Pro Dad. [Chick-fil-A, accessed 2/4/11; Voice of Reason, No.3, 2005]
Family First Is Actually The Florida Family Council. [Trademarkia, accessed 2/4/11 and 2/4/11]
Florida Family Council is an Affiliate of the American Family Association [The Gospel According to Disney,2004];
SPLC designated the American Family Association an anti-gay hate group [SPLC, Spring 2005]
In 1995, the Florida Family Council opposed Disney's decision to extend health benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian employees, helping draft a letter then called the decision "anti-family" and inappropriate for a company that provides "wholesome, family-oriented entertainment." [LA Times, 10/19/95]
Mark Merrill, Florida Family Council president, has been a vocal critic of marriage equality. In an interview with NPR in 1996, he criticized Disney for putting domestic partnerships "on a same footing with heterosexual marriage"
