Supporters of Chick-fil-A showed up in droves Wednesday at restaurants in the chicken chain as the company continues to be criticized for an executive’s comments about gay marriage.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, declared Wednesday national “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day,” sparking a rush by supporters to chain stores across the nation.
The drive-thru at a Chick-fil-A in Tampa was so long it backed up traffic on Dale Mabry Highway.
“There is a time in your life you have to stand up for your principles,” said Evelyn Dean, a customer. “I believe they are absolutely right in what they think and feel and do, and so I’m here to support them.”
The location hired two deputies for safety reasons but so far there have been no problems, just a long line out the door.
Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press last month that the Atlanta-based company was “guilty as charged” for backing “the biblical definition of a family.”
That unleashed a torrent of criticism from gay rights groups and others, who have called for boycotts and efforts to block the chain from opening new stores.
Hamburger Mary's in Ybor City is rolling out its own sandwich this month to oppose Chick-fil-A's stance against gay marriage.
“We thought we would just offer a "No Hate Chicken Sandwich,” said Melanie Todd, manager of Hamburger Mary's.
For each sandwich sold, $1 will go to charity throughout the month of August.
The franchise and its employees say they don't take issue with freedom of speech. Todd said her company instead wants to spread a different message that gay people should enjoy the same rights as everyone else.
“It’s a barbaric way of thinking. This is 2012, this is not the 50s or the 60s. We've had so many problems, like bullying in high schools,” she said.
Opponents of the company’s stance are planning “Kiss More Chiks” for Friday, when they are encouraging people of the same sex to show up at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country and kiss each other.