Chick-fil-a facing fresh LGBT backlash over second UK restaurant

Chick-fil-a is facing fresh criticism from the LGBT community after its “quiet” opening of a second UK restaurant at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort in Scotland.

The Highland LGBT Forum said in a Facebook post that it is “disappointed” to see that the hotel has allowed a business with an “atrocious anti-LGBTQ track record” to open in Aviemore.

LGBT+ groups boycotted the opening of the chain’s debut UK restaurant in Reading over comments made by the American fast food chain’s CEO about the LGBT+ community.

In 2012 CEO Dan Cathy reportedly said on US radio programme, The Ken Coleman Show,  that “defining marriage differently to the bible was akin to shaking a fist at God”.

Shortly after the opening the group revealed it would be closing the store, and a spokesperson for the chain told the BBC that “the right thing to do” was to not extend the restaurant’s lease beyond the “six-month pilot period”.

According to the Evening Standard, the chain has been accused of donating money to groups seen as “hostile” to LGBT+ rights. Reading Pride said these included charities such as Marriage & Family Foundation, the Georgia Family Council, and Exodus International.