Chick-Fil-A's First UK Outlet To Close In 6 Months Following LGBTQ Protests

LOADING ERROR LOADING The U.K.’s first Chick-fil-A has announced it will close following backlash against the fast food chain’s history of donations to anti-LGBTQ groups. “However, we have decided on this occasion that the right thing to do is to only allow Chick-Fil-A to trade with us for the initial six-month pilot period, and not to extend the lease any further.” The Oracle had been hit with protests from a number of LGBTQ rights groups since the Chick-Fil-A franchise’s Oct. 10 opening. Last week, Reading Pride released a lengthy statement on Twitter outlining its opposition to the restaurant chain, pointing out the American company’s acknowledged financial support of organizations with a history of LGBTQ discrimination. Since then, Chick-fil-A has made repeated attempts to stem the backlash by pledging not to “have a political or social agenda.” However, the fast food chain’s 2017 tax documents ― obtained by ThinkProgress in March ― found that the company had donated $9.9 million to charity, of which roughly $1.8 million went to groups known to discriminate against LGBTQ people. Rodney Bullard, leader of the Chick-fil-A Foundation, dismissed the criticism in a Business Insider interview published in May, saying the company’s donations were aimed at serving low-income and underprivileged children and “relevant and impactful to the community.” “For us, that’s a much higher calling than any political or cultural war that’s being waged,” said Bullard, the company’s vice president of corporate social responsibility and the executive director of the company’s charitable foundation.