Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has canceled a speaking engagement at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, a move rumored to have been motivated by pressure from LGBT rights activists.
Schultz was scheduled to speak at the church's Global Leadership Summer on Aug. 12. A spokesperson for Starbucks confirmed that Schultz would not be speaking at the event but declined to explain why.
The news came a week after the circulation of a petition on Change.org called on Schultz to drop the engagement, alleging that Willow Creek Church is anti-gay. The petition drew 799 signatures in just seven days.
The news also comes on the heels of widespread reporting that in 2009, Willow Creek split with Exodus International, one of the country's largest ministries promoting ex-gay counseling.
However, Asher Huey, who started the petition, said that Willow Creek's track record pointed to a history of anti-gay practice.
"The church split ways with [Exodus], but in doing so stated that it wasn't a change in belief but a change in focus," Huey stated in the petition. "The church also has their own 'outreach' programs to the LGBT community to spread their anti-lgbt message."
Bill Hybels, senior pastor of the church, has publicly insisted that the church is not anti-gay. In 2008, Windy City Times reported that Hybels told LGBT activists that he did not believe that homosexuality was a choice, but that gay people should be celibate."
Hybels appeared to take a similar stance in speaking to multiple news sources after Schultz's cancellation.
It remains unclear how or if Willow Creek's public stance on homosexuality differs from that of Exodus International. Willow Creek lists "sexual integrity issues" under its page on addiction, but does not define the term.
Exodus International likewise says that it supports gay people. In an interview with Windy City Times, Alan Chambers, president of Exodus and an ex-gay himself, said that he does not believe that people choose to be gay.
"We don't see homosexuality as any different than other things that people struggle with that the bible categorizes as sinful," Chambers said. "Our message is the same as anyone's message who is dealing with conflict with how they want to live."
A spokesperson for the church was not available to speak in time for deadline, a church receptionist said, due to the ongoing leadership conference.
"[The allegations] put me in a very uncomfortable situation because I have gay co-workers," Jackson said. "I have gay neighbors. I have gay friends."