"Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" sets stage for support rallies and counter-protests over restaurant's stand on same-sex marriage. Chris Clackum reports.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
Supporters of restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, which has come?under fire for its president's anti-same-sex marriage stance, are planning?a "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" on Wednesday.
According to news reports, Christian conservatives have promised to buy the Atlanta-based chain's waffle fries and chicken sandwiches to show their support of ?President Dan Cathy, who recently told a Baptist publication that he was "guilty as charged" in his support of the "biblical definition" of the family as being between a man and a woman.
The statement sparked a firestorm of criticism from gay marriage supporters and?politicians, turning Chick-fil-A into a lightening rod for the debate over same-sex unions.
A Chicago alderman vowed to block a Chick-fil-A proposed in his district, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel supported him, saying, "Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values." Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wrote in a letter to Cathy: "There is no place for discrimination on Boston's Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it."?
Muppets creator The Jim Henson company yanked its toys from Chick-fil-A restaurants, saying it has "celebrated and embraced diversity for over 50 years." It directed its revenue from the Chick-fil-A toys to GLAAD, a leading gay rights organization.
Chick-fil-A, which?is a national chain but has?the majority of its 1,600 restaurants in the South, is not without its supporters.
Related story: Chick-fil-A out of the fryer, into the fire
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, declared?Wednesday "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" to support a business "whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values." Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who like Huckabee ran for president as a darling of social conservatives, joined the cause along with religious leaders.
"As the son of a dairy farmer who milked many a cow, I plan to `Eat Mor Chikin' and show my support by visiting Chick-fil-A next Wednesday," the Rev. Billy Graham said in a statement?last week, referring to the slogan in the company's ads, which feature cows urging people to eat poultry.?
People on the other side of the debate are planning to have?same-sex kiss-in at?some restaurant locations on Friday.?
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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