Chick-fil-A, the fast food chain that so many know and love, has found itself in hot water time and time again. What will quiet their homophobic ideals masked as Christianity? The answer is nothing. Not even a dousing of the notorious Chick-fil-A sauce could cover that up.

Back in November 2019, Chick-fil-A announced that it would devote its philanthropy efforts to focus on homelessness, hunger and education in 2020. But, this seemingly good and moral contribution is only another move by the company to hide their homophobia. Prior to this, the company had been consistently donating to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations.

Chick-fil-A was founded in Georgia by S. Truett Cathy. The Cathy family, specifically Dan Cathy, Truett’s son and the current CEO of the chain, claims to have built the restaurant on religious ideals.

But, these religious ideals, masked in giving and hospitality, are shrouded in hate and discrimination.

The chain has been known to have ties to homophobia since many years ago, but in 2019, tax files from 2017 revealed that the company had donated $1.8 million to anti-LGBTQ+ groups. Chick-fil-A continues to donate to these groups. Companies like the Fellowship for Christian Athletes and The Salvation Army are still funded by Chick-fil-A.

The Fellowship for Christian Athletes (FCA) is an organization that claims to “use the powerful medium of athletics to impact the world of Jesus Christ.” Despite this, FCA includes in its Statement of Faith some extremely hateful statements about the LGBTQ+ community.

“God instituted marriage between one man and one woman as the foundation of the family and the basic structure of human society. For this reason, we believe that marriage is exclusively the union of one man and one woman.”

Another one of their documents highlights a sexual purity statement that all applicants must agree to once they join the organization.

“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 alternative lifestyle acceptable to God.”

Both of these excerpts show the organization’s blatant homophobia and bigotry. Especially considering that the FCA is open to student athletes as young as middle and high schoolers, it is alarming to know that they are training children from such a young age to deny their sexuality or be intolerant to those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community.

According to sports trainer Emma Nye, even FCA members are not always aware of the homophobia in the contracts they are signing when they join the organization.

The Salvation Army also has records of being tied to discrimination of LGBTQ+ people. In 2012, a Vermont branch of the company fired a case worker after learning she was bisexual. The company even put out a statement saying that homosexuality is forbidden according to scripture and that all gay people should become celibate to respect that. Despite this, the Salvation Army continues to deny their homophobia.

While it is obvious that the Georgia-based fast food chain was founded in bigotry, countless people continue to give them business. As I reported in an earlier article, Chick-fil-A’s sales rose by 12% despite controversy surrounding comments made by CEO Dan Cathy, who stated that a marriage should solely be between a man and a woman.

Chick-fil-A’s new 2020 philanthropy efforts are another way of distracting people from their homophobic comments. If they were truly up-front about their company, they would include an apology somewhere public like their website. Instead they just continue to disguise their hate with vague donations that could still be going to anti-LGBTQ+ companies like Salvation Army and FCA.

The problem with Chick-fil-A then is as unmissable as their cow campaign ad. Their problem is that the “values” they stand for don’t match their “philanthropy” efforts. Their problem is their blatant hypocrisy and complicity in marketing themselves as something they are not. If only they were honest and put a label on their food, detailing that the profits go to telling LGBTQ+ youth that their sexuality is a choice and a sin. Maybe then the lines wouldn’t be so long.

Instead of eating homophobic chicken sandwiches, try some that don’t donate to anti-LGBTQ+ groups like Popeyes, Cane’s or the local chicken sandwich spot in your city. Even the Texas favorite Whataburger just released a spicy chicken sandwich as their new item as of Sept. 27. Austin Eater has a comprehensive list of great chicken sandwiches you can find in the Capital City. There’s no excuse to be waiting in an endless line at Chick-fil-A just to get a mediocre sandwich that was made with hate instead of love.