The Last Chick-fil-A in the UK Finally Shuts Doors After Protests

The last Chick-fil-A in the United Kingdom has flown the coop.

The restaurant, located in a Macdonald Hotels property in the Scottish Highlands, was controversial from its launch in October due to the fast-food chain's history of donating to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations.

Due to this problematic history, Scott Cuthbertson, an LGBTQ+ activist, had launched a petition calling for its closure, which quickly accrued 1,000 signatures. 

Additionally, Patrick Harvie, the first out bisexual member of Scottish Parliament, called on a boycott of the restaurant among his fellow politicians, who often stay at the luxury Macdonald Aviemore Resort.

"We have a special responsibility to challenge them to drop their association with this toxic U.S. company which funds campaigns to undermine LGBT+ people’s safety and human rights," Harvie said, according to The National.

Following four months of protest, a statement on the Macdonald website confirmed the Chick-fil-A closure. "Our pop-up restaurant Chick-fil-A is closing on Saturday, January 18," it read.

Another Chick-fil-A location opened last October in a shopping center in Reading, England. Following public outrage, the center announced that the chicken restaurant's six-month lease would not be renewed.

In November, Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos gave an interview that was widely interpreted as meaning it would no longer donate to organizations with an anti-LGBTQ record such as Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army, which have received millions from the popular fast-food chain's foundation over the years. However, Chick-fil-A made a similar promise in the past and did not follow through. The company subsequently backtracked a bit, saying no organization would be excluded from consideration for grants and that it had "inadvertently discredited" some groups.