Chick-fil-A has pledged to stop giving to anti-LGBTQ groups...Or has it?

On Monday, the company announced it was "introducing a more focused giving approach to provide additional clarity and impact with the causes it supports." In practical terms, that means moving forward it will focus on three issues, each with a corresponding charity.

To address homelessness, it has partnered with Covenant House International, which notes on its website the LGBTQ community is hit particularly hard by the issue, and calls itself "a safe space for LGBTQ youth."

To address education, Chick-fil-A is teaming up with Junior Achievement USA, which works with students K-12 to "foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills," according to the company's press release. And to fight hunger, it is pledging to give to local food banks at each new Chick-fil-A opening.

The announcement also meant it was ending its partnerships with the Salvation Army, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), and the Paul Anderson Youth Home, all of which have brought criticisms from LGBTQ advocates, as Bisnow reported.

“There’s no question we know that, as we go into new markets, we need to be clear about who we are,” Chick-fil-A President and Chief Operating Officer Tim Tassopoulos told the publication. “There are lots of articles and newscasts about Chick-fil-A, and we thought we needed to be clear about our message.”

Tassopoulos also said the company was moving away from multiyear commitments and would instead be making determinations each year about its giving.

"Future partners could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities, but the company said none of the organizations have anti-LGBT positions," Bisnow reported.

Chick-fil-A's press release included similar language, saying, "Additionally, the Foundation will no longer make multiyear commitments and will reassess its philanthropic partnerships annually to allow maximum impact. These partners could include faith-based and non-faith-based charities."

"No organization will be excluded from future consideration–faith-based or non-faith-based," Tassopoulos told Vice.

On Monday, the same day it announced a new giving strategy for 2020, the company spotlighted its 2018 donations to the Salvation Army and FCA, saying it was "happy and proud to share that our donations and sponsorships contributed to strengthening and building communities."

The news has proven contentious for all sides, with many conservatives criticizing the decision, characterizing it as bending at the knee to the upset of the LGBTQ community and its allies, with some even calling for a boycott all their own.

On the other side of the aisle, liberals have met the news with a mix of celebration and caution, and in some cases outright skepticism, with GLAAD releasing a statement saying the announcement could be met with, at most, "cautious optimism," with "similar press statements...previously proven to be empty." The organization also pointed out that the company lacked workplace protections for its LGBTQ employees.

What stands out, amidst all the noise, is that we still don't know just how dedicated Chick-fil-A is to avoiding future donations to groups with anti-LGBTQ policies or histories. While the decision to stop giving to organizations that have caused the company the biggest headaches seems a wise and calculated PR move to clear the path to a smoother expansion into foreign markets, it is clear Chick-fil-A won't go so far as to pledge to never again fund such groups.

The company appears to have just put itself in the awkward position of not doing enough to stop the boycotts and protests coming from the left, while also opening themselves up to the same from the right.

NewNowNext has reached out to Chick-fil-A for comment and will update this story if we receive a response.