ATLANTA — When President Obama said same-sex couples should have the right to marry, it was national news for a few days before the presidential campaign and the country went back to business as usual.
Yet weeks after a fast-food executive doubled down on his opposition to gay marriage, debate rages on about equality, religious values and free speech. “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” on Wednesday, with supporters flooding the chain's franchises across the country, was countered with “kiss-ins” by same-sex couples at assorted locations on Friday, long after Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's initial comments to a religious publication touched off the clash.
Coursing throughout the conversations on social media, in letters to the editor and in long lines to buy chicken sandwiches is the sense among proud Southerners that the outcry over Cathy's comments smacks of regional stereotyping. When public officials in Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago tell a Southern icon such as Chick-fil-A that it's no longer welcome, and that Cathy should keep his opinions to himself, many in the Atlanta-based chain's home region hear more than a little northern condescension.
“Maybe the reaction is just because we're Southerners,” said Rose Mason, who was lunching on Friday at a Chick-fil-A in suburban Atlanta.
Western Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A restaurants buzzed with business on Friday, but lip-locked lovers were missing from the crowds.
Instead of a planned boycott featuring a “kiss-in” by those angered by the company president's comments on gay marriage, stores showed signs that support remained strong from Wednesday, when the company had record sales.
“There's nothing like the First Amendment,” said Steve Romanias, 55, of Valencia in Butler County, as he ate at a Chick-fil-A in Cranberry.
Romanias said he eats at Chick-fil-A “every now and then” but said this trip was meant as a statement.
An employee at a Chick-fil-A in Homestead said Friday was busier than usual but that no protesters were observed.
Brian Wenger, owner of the Chick-fil-A franchise in Monroeville, called the cars snaking around his building and long lines inside the restaurant “lunch time.”
Trib Total Media staff writer Jason Cato contributed to this report.
