An American fast food chain will on Friday take centre stage in the widening dispute over President Barack Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage as homosexual rights groups across the country hold “kiss-in” protests over the restaurant’s “biblical” stance on the issue.
'Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,' said Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago and Mr Obama’s former chief of staff
Chick-fil-A, which specialises in fried chicken sandwiches, has become the unlikely spearhead of a conservative backlash against same-sex marriage after the company’s president, Dan Cathy, said that it took a staunchly traditional view on the family unit.
The chain’s 1,000 restaurants have been inundated this week by conservative customers eager to show their support for his position, even holding a “Chick-fil-A appreciation day” to illustrate the strength of their opposition to same-sex unions.
However, homosexual rights groups will respond today by holding same-sex “kiss-ins” protests at branches of the restaurant across the country, many of which are in the southern Bible Belt, encouraging homosexual couples to kiss each other.
“We need to show not just the Chick-fil-A company, but the rest of the country, that our numbers are great,” said Carly McGehee, who proposed the action.
The controversy began after Mr Cathy told a Christian newspaper that his chain supported “the biblical definition of the family unit”.
“We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,” he said. “We give God thanks for that.” His remarks came after Mr Obama said in May that he backed the right of homosexual couples to marry — a position that his Democratic Party will make official policy at its convention next month.
Mr Cathy, whose Baptist father founded the company in 1967, added that the US was “inviting God’s judgment” by saying “we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage”.
The comments prompted outrage from leaders on the political Left, who pledged that they would block Chick-fil-A’s expansion in their areas.
“Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” said Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago and Mr Obama’s former chief of staff. “They disrespect our fellow neighbours and residents.”
Christine Quinn, the speaker of New York’s city council and favourite to succeed Michael Bloomberg as mayor, asked New York University to close a Chick-fil-A branch on its campus.
“NYC is a place where we celebrate diversity,” wrote Ms Quinn, who is homosexual. “We revel in the diversity of all our citizens and their families.”
Even the Jim Henson Company, whose Muppets toys were given away with Chick-fil-A’s children’s meals, ended the tie-in and pledged to donate profits from it to a homosexual rights charity.
However, their interventions pushed conservative politicians and chicken-lovers to rally round the restaurant, whose executives have also donated millions of dollars to anti-homosexual groups.
It announced record-breaking sales on Wednesday after Mike Huckabee, a Republican former presidential candidate and Arkansas governor, declared it “Chick-fil-A appreciation day”.
Outlets were packed across the country, with police called in to marshal hours-long queues of conservative activists and lines of vehicles snaking from restaurant car parks.
Bryan Fischer, a senior leader of the American Family Association, declared that the chain had defeated “Big Gay” — an interest group he suggested was comparable to “Big Tobacco” or “Big Pharma” — and would help Mitt Romney oust Mr Obama from the White House.
Democrats who previously spoke out appeared surprised by the response. Mr Emanuel clarified that he would not seek to block the restaurant from Chicago, while Ms Quinn insisted she had been speaking personally — despite her letter being written on official stationery.
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