Conservatives rage at Chick-fil-A for celebrating gay couple’s marriage

Conservative Christians are raging at a Chick-fil-A franchise for celebrating a gay couple’s marriage. 

The controversial US fast-food chain, which has a history of funding anti-LGBTQ+ causes, has sparked backlash for attempting to be more inclusive. 

At the start of December, Chick-fil-A Orem Plaza in Utah took to Facebook to celebrate diners Dougie and Toby who got married. 

Alongside photos of the pair embracing each other, the restaurant wrote: “CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HAPPY COUPLE! Dougie & Toby recently got married and we are so beyond happy for them!” 

Comments under the post have been limited, but the majority simply wish the couple congratulations. 

However, some right-wing groups and people were outraged by the celebratory post, with one person commenting, “This is not a marriage”. 

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate group Family Research Council dedicated an entire blog post to slamming Chick-fil-A, which it claimed is “quietly still condoning a message that is radically at odds with the biblical values that most people associate them with — including same-sex marriage”. 

‘Legitimate hurt and disappointment’

The post went on to hit out at the chain for attempting to clean up its anti-LGBTQ+ image by pulling funds from controversial charities such as The Salvation Army and giving to the Southern Poverty Law Center instead.

It further attacked the chain for employing a vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion in a bid to enforce further inclusivity. 

The post concluded: “Unlike Target or Anheuser-Busch, this company intentionally made religion a part of the chain’s identity. So, it’s a point of legitimate hurt and disappointment that this company keeps profiting from its Christian reputation, only to turn around and sell out those same values. 

“Americans expect that from Nike. They expect it from Starbucks. They believed Chick-fil-A was different — and they continue to be wrong.” 

Last year, Chick-fil-A announced plans to launch restaurants in Belfast, Leeds, Liverpool and London over the next two years, as part of a long-term commitment to Britain.

In 2021, despite the business announcing two years earlier that it would refrain from donating to anti-LGBTQ+ organisations, it was reported that a number of Christian billionaires, including billionaire chairman Dan Cathy, had donated large sums to the National Christian Charitable Foundation, which was said to be pushing for the derailment of the Equality Act.

Chick-fil-A’s bid to clean up its past remains ongoing.

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