A California principal has banned
Chick-fil-A from its campus, saying parents and students might be
offended by the eatery's opposition to gay rights.
Ventura High School Principal Val Wyatt
said that the school could not accept an offer of 200 sandwiches and
wraps to the school's booster club for a back-to-school fundraiser
held this week.
“With their political stance on gay
rights and because the students of Ventura High School and their
parents would be at the event, I didn't want them on campus,” she
told the Ventura
County Star.
Trudy Tuttle Arriaga, the school
district's superintendent, supported Wyatt's decision.
“We value inclusivity and diversity
on our campus and all of our events and activities are going to
adhere to our mission,” she told Los Angeles' KCAL.
In the summer of 2012, Chick-fil-A CEO
Dan Cathy created a firestorm of controversy for saying that marriage
equality is “inviting God's judgment on our nation” and conceding
that his company gave millions to anti-equality groups.
Pro-equality groups protested Cathy's
statements. Some posed outside local eateries for same-sex embraces
and kisses, their photos uploaded to social media, and several
local franchises were vandalized.
Conservatives responded by organizing a
successful day of support for Chick-fil-A.
In a recent interview with The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cathy said he won't
be weighing in on the subject anymore.
The school's booster club said that
while it would not sell the meals on campus, a loss estimated at
$1,600, its fundraiser would benefit from the sale of donated
Chick-fil-A coupons redeemable off-campus.