Torrence, CA (KTLA) — Activists on both sides of the gay rights issue are putting fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A in the spotlight this week — with day two of demonstrations calling for a same-sex “kiss-in.”
Friday’s event, dubbed the “National Same-Sex Kiss Day,” asks couples to go to one of the chicken restaurant’s locations and take a photo or video of themselves kissing.
One of the restaurant’s stores in Torrance was vandalized early Friday morning, with a play on the company’s signature slogan — a cow paining the words “Tastes like Hate.”
The event follows Wednesday’s “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” in which Americans lined up at eateries nationwide to support the company.
The controversy was started after statements made in July by the company’s President Dan Cathy during an interview with The Baptist Press.
“We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit,” Cathy said. “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee then fueled the national debate, calling for those against gay marriage to rush to the restaurant on Wednesday to show solidarity with Cathy’s statements.
The restaurant, which claims no involvement in Huckabee’s event, says it set a sales record that day, even selling out at many locations.
“We can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day,” said Steve Robinson, the executive vice president of marketing.
Proponents of same-sex marriage organized a simple counterprotest for Wednesday, asking people to donate the approximate cost of a Chick-fil-A meal, about $6.50, to gay and lesbian rights groups, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, known as GLAAD.
