Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy has said that
he regrets dragging the company into the gay marriage debate.
In the summer of 2012, Cathy created a
firestorm of controversy for saying that marriage equality is
“inviting God's judgment on our nation” and conceding that his
company gave millions to anti-equality groups.
Fox News' Mike Huckabee organized a
successful day of support for Chick-fil-A to counter pro-equality
supporters protesting at Chick-fil-A locations. Last year, he
criticized two rulings in support of marriage equality handed down by
the Supreme Court.
While he has not changed his stance on
the issue, Cathy told The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he won't be weighing in on
the subject anymore.
“Every leader goes through different
phases of maturity, growth and development and it helps by
[recognizing] the mistakes that you make,” Cathy told the paper.
“And you learn from those mistakes. If not, you're a fool. I'm
thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it.”
“The bottom line is we have a
responsibility here to keep the whole of the organization in mind and
it has to take precedence over the personal expression and opinion on
social issues,” he added.
Think
Progress earlier this month reported that Chick-fil-A had
“dramatically” cut its donations to groups opposed to gay rights,
though the company's political arm did give $25,000 to the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes.