On Oct. 25, students gathered at the Chick-fil-A in Canyon Park to celebrate the football game’s “fifth” quarter. From 9 to 11 p.m., 20 percent of all sales connected to Inglemoor students were given to the class of 2021 as part of a fundraiser to lower costs of next year’s senior class activities.
This event was received with mixed reactions from students given Chick-fil-A’s nature as a Christian company and has a history of supporting various homophobic and racist organizations. For example, in 2011, Chick-fil-A donated $1.1 million to the Marriage & Family Foundation, an organization that opposes gay marriage.
Despite concerns that the school could be promoting controversial beliefs, as long as the school is only using the food chain to raise money and is not actively associating with the organization’s beliefs, it is completely appropriate to partner with the fast-food restaurant to help with school fundraisers.
First, students have to consider the motives of ASB as they planned the fundraiser. The obvious priorities of the students were to raise as much money as possible to lower costs for senior activities.
Junior and ASB representative Khushveen Kaur said that they picked Chick-fil-A for three main reasons: the restaurant would stay open late after the game, it was willing to donate 20 percent, and it included all orders from 9 to 11 p.m. dine in and drive-through.
Additionally, the school never claimed to be supporting Chick-fil-A’s views. It is unreasonable to expect students to dissect every company they are associated with to see if they align with their personal ethical beliefs. At some point, a sponsoring organization must be separated from the personal beliefs that some of the owners may have.
Despite the best intentions of ASB to separate the company and its affiliations, religious and ethical concerns obviously raise red flags with the student body. The beliefs are damaging to students who fit into or support the students who Chick-fil-A are attempting to restrict. However, the individual location they chose to partner with is one of thousands and has no obligation to represent beliefs of Chick-fil-A as a whole.
Regardless of the personal views of the management, students shouldn’t have to worry about the complexities of the company. By partnering with this particular restaurant, ASB did not intentionally introduce any controversy into the school, nor should their ethical views be considered relevant to the objective.
When ASB partners with Chick-fil-A, they partner with the very surface level of what the chain does and how it operates. They are choosing the specific location for its convenience and the benefits it offered in terms of money; they are not partnering with the organization as a whole or the people who control the business. Thus, the partnering organization should disregard the religious or social affiliations of the company.
When any organization partners with a company, they indirectly adhere to those principles. Paying attention to who we choose to collaborate with is necessary since it can have a great impact on our school community.
Chick-fil-A may be a convenient partner and an accessible route to raise money for the class of 2021, but partnership with such companies inadvertently affirms those beliefs and activities. Continuing to partner with Chick-fil-A is unreasonable because of the homophobic beliefs they value which targets the LGBTQ+ community.
Chick-fil-A has donated over $5 million to homophobic groups and Christian organizations. Overall, organizations that firmly take position against LGBTQ+ rights entirely discriminate against many people’s lives, which encourages to a vulgar and insulting society. As of Nov. 18, Chick-fil-A has stopped funding to the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian athletes. Both organizations have had a history of opposing same-sex marriage. This is a good start for Chick-fil-A, but it certainly doesn’t excuse their history of supporting homophobic beliefs. In order to truly respect the diverse community within our school, it’s essential that we need to discontinue partnering with Chick-fil-A. It’s necessary to recognize the true beliefs and intentions of companies in future collaborations regardless of how big or small the companies are. Although Inglemoor High School may not agree with Chick-fil-A’s beliefs, we are still associating ourselves with their history of homophobia.
Since we aim to protect LGBTQ+ rights in our community, it’s crucial to consider everyone’s right to a sense of belonging. Ignoring what we stand for, which is a supportive environment of LGBTQ+ students and staff, would be insincere and disloyal. Students want to know they have support and respect from our school community. Further association with Chick-fil-A would do the LGBTQ+ community a disservice.
As of today, students seem to view this collaboration as uncalled for because of the immoral and negative perspective Chick-fil-A has on LGBTQ+ rights. This reaction is a sign of how significant it is to stay informed and make informed discussions.
Although neither the school nor the class of 2021 claim to adhere with the company’s beliefs, a partnership with Chick-fil-A is just enough to draw conclusions and create rumors. Therefore, it’s not appropriate to use Chick-fil-A as a sponsor because of it’s unethical beliefs about the LGBTQ+. Students must carefully dissect and consider controversial beliefs of future companies or collaborations, particularly when the company donates some of the money to our community, who pays for their products, that directly contradicts what we stand for. In conclusion, research shows that partnering with Chick-fil-A is inappropriate because it violates the standards we hold ourselves to.
