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BY HANK KOEBLER
ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY
The chicken fight over Chick-fil-A, gay marriage and business boycotting continues. Former
Arkansas governor and 2008 presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, declared Wednesday “Chick-fil-A
Appreciation Day.” WRIC has the latest:
“More than 580,000 people on Facebook have accepted an invitation to take part in the
event... Meanwhile gay rights supporters have planned same-sex-kiss day inside the restaurants
on Friday.”
The controversy comes after Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy said in an interview that he was
“guilty as charged” when asked if he opposed gay marriage. A guest on CNN says Chick-Fil-A
shouldn’t face retaliation for its president’s beliefs.
“Saying that they will not provide a business license for Chick-Fil-A, or retroactively
trying to take a business license away because of a company president's political or religious
views. And to me that is just un-American.”
A writer for the Huffington Post disagrees, saying consumers shouldn’t support Chick-Fil-A
because of where the company’s donations go.
“Chick-fil-A has donated at least $5 million to organizations... that, among other things...
say gay people should be ‘exported’ out of America. Even if you oppose same-sex marriage,
do you really want to support a company that advocates putting gay people in jail, or ‘exporting’
them, just because they're gay?”
A Washington Post columnist is less concerned with the politics of the issue, saying a chicken
sandwich isn’t the right avenue for making a political stand.
“If you’re upset that the Chick-fil-A founder donates to causes you don’t believe
in, then donate to causes you do believe in. Fight apples with apples and oranges with
oranges. Judge the sandwich by the sandwich.”
How will the controversy affect Chick-Fil-A’s bottom line? Time Magazine suggests Chick-Fil-A
thinks it won’t matter to most of the company’s consumers.
“To make a statement that in effect says, If you disagree with me, don’t buy my chicken,
Chick-fil-A’s Cathy must have felt confident enough in his brand and conservative Southern
roots to risk alienating some of his clientele.”