Former Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship vocalist Grace Slick has announced she will be donating profits made from a fast food chain’s use of her song to a pro-LGBTIQ charity.
Chick-fil-A, a company known for funding bodies that fought against marriage equality and LGBTIQ rights through their charity WinShape Foundation, has used the classic tune Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now in their new advertising campaign.
Slick explained on social media she had first considered refusing the deal, because “Chick-fil-A pisses me off.”
“I firmly believe that men should be able to marry men, and women women. I am passionately against anyone who would try and suppress this basic human rights. So my first thought when “Check”-fil-A came to me was, ‘F*ck no!’ – but then I decided, ‘F*ck yes.'”
Slick says she will be donating all of the money she makes from the arrangement to support the LGBTIQ community.
“I am donating every dime that I make from that ad to Lambda Legal, the largest national legal organization working to advance the civil rights of LGBTQ people, and everyone living with HIV,” she continued.
“Instead of them replacing my song with someone else’s and losing this opportunity to strike back at anti-LGBTQ forces, I decided to spend the cash in direct opposition to “Check”-fil-A’s causes – and to make a public example of them, too. We’re going to take some of their money, and pay it back.”
Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Foundation donated over $5 million to Biblical Christian groups between 2003 and 2012 which actively taught and rallied against marriage equality. The donations prompted protests and even a song from drag queens Willam, Detox and Vicky Vox (DWV) in 2012.
Slick also encourages other artists to follow her example and use their work to stand up to intolerance.
“I hope more musicians will think about the companies that they let use their songs; we can use our gifts to help stop the forces of bigotry. Nothing’s gonna stop us now.”
OIP Staff
