The principal of a high school in New Orleans, Louisiana, has rejected an offer of free meals for teachers from Chick-fil-A in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
Dr. Steven Corbett, principal of Lusher High School, said he turned down the free lunches from the fast food chain as some of its staff members are LGBTQ.
In a statement, seen by 4WWL, Corbett also said the fast food chain's values do not align with the school's.
"Out of respect to our LGBTQ staff, we have chosen to not serve Chick-Fil-A at an employee lunch," Corbett said. "The #1 rule at Lusher is to 'Be Kind' and we live this motto every day.
"Chick-Fil-A has been politically outspoken about its views, and we feel it is not part of Lusher's culture of kindness and community."
Corbett reiterated his reason for rejecting the offer in an interview with WDSU.
"We made the decision to support our staff members who are LGBTQ and other supporters," he said.
"We felt that any time an organization is anti-LGBTQ, and has efforts to infringe upon their rights, we thought it was important to support and stand up for their community at this time."
The free meals offered by Chic-fil-A are one of a number being provided to the Orleans Parish school district by the College Football Playoff Foundation (CFPF) to thank New Orleans for hosting the Sugar Bowl and College Football Championship.
Tony Fay, spokesperson for the CFPF, told 4WWL he respects Corbett's decision and will provide food to the teachers from another restaurant, ensuring they still "have a good lunch."
Chick-fil-A did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chick-fil-A is known as a family-run company with strong conservative and Christian values, including not opening on Sundays.
There has been backlash and boycotts against the company after its CEO Dan Cathy admitted he opposed gay marriage.
"We're inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and saw we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage," Cathy said on a radio show in 2012. "And I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about."
When pressed about his views in a follow-up interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy replied he was "guilty as charged."
"We are very much supportive of the family—the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that," Cathy said.
"We operate as a family business...our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that."
