Gay rights activists and backers of same-sex marriage held "kiss-ins" at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the United States on Friday to protest the fast-food chain president's opposition to homosexual unions.
Meanwhile, police were investigating graffiti at a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Southern California. The graffiti on the side of a restaurant in Torrance said "Tastes like hate" and had a picture of a cow. No one has been arrested.
The controversy started last month with comments by company president and COO Dan Cathy, suggesting that he opposed gay marriage. Cathy told a religious publication that the company backed "the biblical definition of a family" and later said: ""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."'
The clash intensified Wednesday when supporters, including former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, organized "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," which resulted in long lines outside chain locations and derision from opponents, both online and onsite.
The Cathy family has never hid its Southern Baptist faith, even closing its restaurants on Sundays.
New York City Mayor Bloomberg weighed in on the issue on Friday, saying the fast food chain has rights to its views on same-sex marriage, like the Catholic church. During last week's radio show on WORS, Bloomberg described demands for a New York City ban on Chick-fil-A ban as "inappropriate."
Chick-fil-A posted "record-setting" sales on Wednesday as thousands of people queued up at the chicken chain for Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had called on people to buy food at the chain on Wednesday, which he dubbed "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," after a backlash against the company and their president.
