Why I took on Chick-fil-A and kicked them out of Scotland

Just 20 years ago Scotland, and the rest of the UK, was a completely different place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people.

You could be sacked for being gay, and there was nothing you could do about it. You could be refused service in a shop or hotel with no recourse. There were no LGBTQ+ hate crime laws, no rights to adopt orfoster, no partnership or marriage rights – I could go on.

As LGBTQ+ people we fought hard to secure these rights and to change our country for the better, and we did so on each and every occasion against a well-funded opposition to equality. Even now despite what we have achieved, that fight is not over. Every day there are people and groups working to water down those rights or scrap them completely and they can only do that with money and resources.

Now you might be asking yourself what on earth this has to do with an American chicken restaurant?

Despite promising to end donations to anti-LGBTQ+ causes, as recently as 2017 the foundation run by Chick-fil-A donated $1.8m to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army. In its "statement of faith" the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which promotes conversion therapy and campaigned against marriage equality, says:

Neither heterosexual sex outside of marriage nor any homosexual act constitute an alternative lifestyle acceptable to God.

The Salvation Army also has a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ views. In 2012 a director for the Salvation Army in Australia suggested that sexually active gay people should be put to death, and in 2014, the Salvation Army in the United States wasaccused of refusing to help house a homeless trans woman.

And that’s not all, Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A spent millions funding anti-gay groups like the Marriage & Family Foundation, the Georgia Family Council and Exodus International which have all campaigned against LGBTQ+ human rights.

Chick-fil-A is a company with a terrible record of supporting anti-LGBTQ+ causes, so it can be of no surprise to them that LGBTQ+ people are going to oppose them at every turn until they stop funding those opposing our hard-won rights.

Many LGBTQ+ people in the Highlands and beyond expressed alarm at the opening of a restaurant with such a record here in Scotland. Chick-fil-A's values go against all that we have achieved in making Scotland a better place for LGBTQ+ people.

Following the closure of the UK's only other Chick-Fil-A branch in Reading, I started a petition to launch a campaign to get Chick-fil-A to cluck off out of Scotland. Over 1,200 people signed my petition, a good number for the highlands, it made all the local and some national newspapers and importantly many people wrote to Macdonald Hotels, who were hosting Chick-Fil-A, to express their disappointment.

Social media became a powerful tool with some Aviemore residents and regular visitors to the area tweeting their views. Highland Pride, the local LGBTQ+ organisation also pitched in.

Upon hearing the news that the restaurant will close, I want to thank everyone who signed the petition and the people who wrote to Macdonald Hotels to express their views, and I hope staff are now redeployed to ensure no job losses.

With Reading and now Scotland, it's Chick-Fil-A 0 - 2 LGBTQ+ campaigners, but this week Chick-Fil-A announced they “were committed to UK expansion”, so while I’m happy that money from these two restaurants won’t find its way into the pockets of anti-LGBTQ+ campaigners, the fight is far from won. A business like this has no place in Scotland, or indeed the rest of the UK.

Chick-fil-A and some of the groups they fund might say they’re expressing their right to free speech, that’s fine, but know that LGBTQ+ people and our allies aren’t going to write the cheque that funds it.

Scott Cuthbertson is a development manager at Equality Network, an LGBTQ+ charity in Scotland

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