Fast Food Chain's Pro-Family Stance Irks Gays

Though Chick-fil-A has come under considerable fire for its documented support of pro-family Christian organizations, officials for the fast food chain have remained mostly tight-lipped about the (what gays consider) controversial issue -- until now.
In a new interview with the Baptist Press, Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy -- the son of company founder S. Truett Cathy -- addresses what the publication describes as his franchise's "support of the traditional family."

Cathy's proud response: "Well, guilty as charged."

He went on to note, "We are very much supportive of the family -- 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. We give God thanks for that...we know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."
Cathy then reiterated his stance during an appearance on "The Ken Coleman Show," Good as You blogger Jeremy Hooper reported.

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say 'we know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage' and I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about," Cathy said in that interview, which can be heard here.

The Atlanta-based company's contributions have been both well reported and the subject of a number of high-profile protests. Earlier this month, Equality Matters published a report on a newly-released analysis of Chick-fil-A's charitable work that found that the fast food chain donated nearly $2 million to pro-family groups over the course of 2010. Among those to reportedly receive donations through Chick-fil-A's WinShape Foundation were the Marriage & Family Foundation ($1,188,380), Exodus International ($1,000) and the Family Research Council (also $1,000).

Gay activists call such contributions "controversial" and "offensive", yet other companies give donations to the Gay Olympics and other pro-gay causes, despite such agendas being well out of the mainstream. However, the mainstream is not as shrill or comfrontational as the gay community. Many gay activists are organizing boycotts and protests of the fast food chain.

In February, Northeastern University officials reportedly squashed plans for a campus-based franchise of the fast food chain, after "student concerns reflected [Chick-fil-A's] history of donating to anti-gay organizations," according to The Boston Globe. One month earlier, New York University student Hillary Dworkoski launched a petition calling for NYU to close its Chick-fil-A franchise, reportedly the only one in Manhattan. (It failed.)

Cathy had previously shrugged off the criticisms in a 2011 interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calling blogosphere reports on his company's donations "folklore." Cathy also noted, "We're not anti-anybody. Our mission is to create raving fans." See Chick's THE GAY BLADE.