Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apologized after promoting Chick-fil-A during Pride Month - here's why the fast-food chain is so controversial
On Saturday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey came under fire after revealing that he ate at Chick-fil-A during LGBT+ Pride Month. He later apologized.
- The fast-food chain is controversial among LGBT+ rights advocates for its anti-same-sex marriage stance.
- In 2012, Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy ignited a backlash after he said the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of the family unit."
Over the weekend, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey received a flurry of backlash after he tweeted that he ate Chick-fil-A this month - which also happens to be LGBT+ Pride month.
Dorsey posted a photo on Saturday with the caption "Boost @ChickfilA," showing he had saved 10% on a $31.58 order at the fast-food chain.
Critics immediately pointed out that the Atlanta-based company has a long, contentious relationship with the LGBT+ community. The former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien tweeted: "This is an interesting company to boost during Pride month, @jack."
Dorsey responded: "You're right. Completely forgot about their background."
He is referencing the fact that Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBT+ organizations.
In 2010, The Huffington Post reported that Chick-fil-A, through its WinShape Foundation, donated $2 million to groups that oppose same-sex marriage, most notably the Marriage & Family Foundation. Until 2012, the company reportedly donated at least $2 million more to such groups.
In 2012, Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy confirmed that the company does not support same-sex marriage because it goes against the organization's religious values.
In an interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said at the time:
"We are very much supportive of the family - the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that. We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that."
He later added on "The Ken Coleman Show:"
"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.' I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about."
Chick-fil-A has recently tried to back away from this stance. As The Daily Beast notes, the company's foundation ended nearly all of its donations to anti-LGBT organizations in 2012. (The foundation's 2015 SEC filings show that it still donated nearly $1 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.) In 2017, Chick-fil-A asked its franchisees to not make public statements about political issues.
"There are several candidates who would like to use us as a platform," David Farmer, Chick-fil-A's vice president of menu strategy and development, told Business Insider in 2016. "We are not engaging. Chick-fil-A is about food, and that's it."
This isn't the first time a company has been embroiled in an LGBT+ rights-related controversy in recent weeks.
After substantial backlash online, CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman called the events "appalling" and said the whole company is "upset." CrossFit then closed the Indianapolis affiliate location.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a large number of big brands have come out this year in support of LGBT+ rights and benefits. AT&T gave $1 million to The Trevor Project, a LGBT+ crisis-intervention nonprofit, the largest single donation in the organization's history. Estée Lauder also announced an expanded benefits package for parents that includes 20 weeks of paid leave, $10,000 toward adoption, and a back-to-work transition program - regardless of sex, gender, or sexual orientation.