Chick-fil-A chief executive officer Dan Cathy's reception of the Urban League of Greater Atlanta's equality award has sparked controversy CNN Money reported Wednesday.
"This award is a slap in the face to the hard-working LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] people who are struggling without employment protections, trying to secure the freedom to marry, and earn the basic respect of people like Mr. Cathy," Ross Murray, director of news at LGBT rights advocacy group GLAAD told CNN. "Based on his previous comments, Mr. Cathy doesn't understand equality for all."
"Please be assured that the Urban League of Greater Atlanta supports and works for equal rights for all people, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or physical ability," the statement said.
The United States Supreme court voted against the Defense of Marriage Act leading to Cathy's opinion on his Twitter page.
"Sad day for our nation; founding fathers would be ashamed of our generation to abandon wisdom of ages re: cornerstone of strong societies," Cathy said the post June 26 according to Death and Tax Magazine. He immediately erased his comment.
Chick-fil-A then released a quote because they feared the CEO would receive criticism similar to the time last year when he made comments that marriage was between a man and a woman according to The Washington Times.
"Guilty as charged," Cathy told the Baptist Press in an Aug. 21, 2012 article. "We are supportive of the ... biblical definition of the family unit. The biblical definition of a family unit doesn't include Adam and Steve."
"Dan recognizes his views do not necessarily represent the views of all Chick-fil-A customers, restaurant owners and employees, so he removed the tweet to eliminate any confusion," the company said in a statement the news service reported.
Chick-fil-A did not provide a statement in regards to the award CNN reported.
