After a Chick-fil-A food truck showed up to a home football game in Oregon, high school students then organized a walk-out protest.
At least a hundred students walked out of their school in protest at the presence of a Chick-fil-A food truck at the school’s football games.
Chick-fil-A is the US’s third-largest fast food chain. The Baptist-owned company has given millions of dollars to anti-LGBT+ organizations.
The Chick-fil-A food truck was, apparently, the most egregious example of harassment, but a transgender student’s car was also vandalized with the word, “queer.”
The walkout at West Linn High School in Oregon was led by the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance club, whose president Susie Walters said students felt unsafe, citing examples of harassment at games and in classes.
“We walked out to show our student pride,” Billie Henderson, the student whose car was targeted, told the local public ration station. “To show that despite everything we’ve been through, we are still proud of who we are, and we won’t back down and we won’t make exceptions for anyone.”
“A group of counterprotesters also walked out of classes wearing “Make America Great Again” hats and waving American flags and Chick-fil-A bags,” the Washington Times reported.
Carrying rainbow flags and signs reading “Every student deserves to be safe,” the students said they were ready to stand up against what they describe as an “unaccepting school culture”.
Around 25 parents and family members stood across the street in support of the children.
The school’s public information officer, Andrew Kilstrom, could not confirm any specific incidents of harassment but said that there have been issues in the past, and the school continues to work to promote a culture of inclusion.
“The West Linn-Wilsonville School District takes all matters of school safety seriously, and diligently investigates and addresses all potential safety concerns,” he added. “That includes bullying or cyberbullying.”
West Linn High School noted that they did not approve of the walkout, though they do encourage students to speak their minds.
It’s not clear what prompted the Oregon school to invite Chick-fil-A to sell food on campus during sporting events, but the chicken sandwich chain has drawn protests from LGBTQ rights activists across the country since 2012 when LGBTQ rights groups discovered that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy is opposed to same-sex marriage and has donated to socially conservative organizations. Activists have staged protests against Chick-fil-A in a number of states, often to no avail. New store openings are typically marked by long lines and extended waits for the famous sandwich.
In some rare cases, activists have been able to prevent new Chick-fil-A locations from opening, typically in airports.
West Linn High School football boosters typically invite a number of vendors to sell food at football games over the course of the season, and the sports program receives a cut of the proceeds, the Washington Times reports.
“The school said the Chick-fil-A food truck will remain at the football games throughout the season, but it will reconsider its vetting process moving forward.”
Local news outlet KATU reported that officials at the high school said the Chick-fil-A food truck will remain at football games throughout the season, but they will reconsider their vetting process for contracts with vendors in the future.
However, it was noted that the Chick-fil-A truck was not present at the Saturday night football game.
Watch the video below for more details:
Sources: AWM, Washington Times, KATU