Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy claims
his company does not have an anti-gay policy.
Cathy was on hand this week for the
opening of a new store in San Antonio, Texas.
In an interview with San Antonio Fox
affiliate Fox 29, Cathy responded to the backlash against earlier
comments he had made, including defending his company's support of
groups opposed to marriage equality.
“I think we are inviting God's
judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We
know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,'” Cathy
said on the Ken Coleman Show. “And I pray God's mercy on
our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think
that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”
On Monday, Christian publication the
Baptist Press quoted Cathy as saying “guilty as charged”
in response to being asked about his company's record supporting
anti-gay groups.
Between 2003 and 2010, Chick-Fil-A gave
nearly $5 million to groups opposed to gay rights, according to
Equality
Matters.
In San Antonio, Cathy was asked, “What
do you say to the [customers] who don't feel comfortable going to
your business anymore?”
“Well we want them to know in a
statement directly from me is, hey, we appreciate everybody.
Everybody's welcome to come here. And we want to make sure we
maintain a policy of hospitality. And would ask those who would take
statements that they cut those up and slice them up into some things
that have not been said. We don't have an anti-gay or anti-anything
policy or attitude toward anybody that's out there. They're all
welcome to come and be with us. And we support the family and we
support those that are going to make our families strong and keep our
nation strong, too,” Cathy
answered.
A Chick-Fil-A spokesman also pivoted on
the issue, saying in a statement that “going forward, our intent is
to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government
and political arena.”