After months of being in a media firestorm because of their bigoted, anti-gay stance, Chick-Fil-A has finally reached an agreement and conceded to make amends for their behavior. Acccording to ChicagoPhoenix.com, the company has agreed to stop donating money to anti-gay hate groups. The company has donated millions of dollars to anti-gay hate groups in the past including The Family Research Council.

WinShape, the non-profit organization funded by Chick-Fil-A, released this statement to their shareholders and employers:

The WinShape Foundations is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas–treat every person with honor, dignity and respect-regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation and gender,” and that its “intent is not to engage in political or social debates.”

The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA) worked with Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno and Chick-Fil-A to facilitate the agreement. Moreno has also agreed to let Chick-Fil-A build one of their franchise restaurants in his ward. Could this also confirm the rumors several weeks ago when Dan Cathy was allegedly sitting down with school officials in Atlanta? Quite possibly.

Is it a step in the right direction? Of course it is, but as executive director of TCRA, Anthony Martinez points out, the company still does NOT have a non discriminatory act in place for their employers:

“We feel this is a strong step forward for Chick-fil-A and the LGBT community; although it is only a step, Until [Chick-fil-A] has an anti-discrimination policy in place, there is still the chance that LGBT employees can be singled out. I’m not planning on dining there until that policy is in place.”

Okay, so they’re stopping their donations, that’s great. But how about the company do something to rectify their past mistakes? Like donate the same amount or more to LGBT organizations that they have hurt? That would be an even better step in the right direction. Regardless, I’m still not eating their dry, tasteless chicken.

Story Developing…

UPDATE:

. The Chicago Tribune reports:

Ald. Proco “Joe” Moreno, 1st, said the restaurant has agreed to include a statement of respect for all sexual orientations in an internal document and promised that its not-for-profit arm would not contribute money to groups that oppose gay marriage. Though Moreno said he scored a “big win,” the company made nearly identical pledges in a July 19 Facebook post that went up even before Moreno took issue with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy’s opposition to gay marriage. The statement of respect also falls short of Moreno’s goal of adding language opposing discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people to the company’s employee handbook. Moreno said the statement will be included in a memo called “Chick-fil-A: Who We Are” to be distributed to all corporate employees and restaurant operators. The alderman said the memo will state the company’s commitment to “treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their beliefs, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.” It also would state that it is the company’s “intent … not to engage in political or social debates.”

The Tribune notes that Chick-Fil-A has not responded to multiple requests for a response to Moreno’s claim about ending anti-gay donations, but did send them a copy of their Facebook post with “language similar to that which Moreno claims will be in their ‘Who We Are’ memo.”

IF this is true and Chick-fil-A DOES confirm it, expect a firestorm of reactions from anti-gay hate groups.