Must companies support gay marriage?

A media firestorm spreads across the country after the president of a national restaurant chain says he doesn’t support same-sex marriage. In 2012, does a private business have to support gay marriage, and if it doesn’t should the company leaders keep their opinions to themselves?

Businesses like Microsoft, Starbucks, Amazon and Google have earned public praise for their support of gay and lesbian employees, and same-sex marriage. Chick-fil-A is condemned for its Chief Operating Officer’s position advocating traditional marriage.

Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy spoke to an editor with the Biblical Recorder which lead to the Baptist Press writing a profile of Cathy and the Georgia-based company his father started. Chick-fil-A had sales of $4 billion last year, with about 1,600 restaurants. The company doesn’t have any restaurants in Washington. The closest is in Boise, Idaho.

Cathy says he doesn’t consider Chick-fil-A to be a Christian company, but Biblical values are important and he believes Christians are missionaries in the workplace.

“We are very much supportive of the family – the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that,” he’s quoted as saying. “We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.”

“We intend to stay the course,” he said. “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.”

Media reports amplified the story last week, adding comments attributed to Cathy from a radio interview (on June 16th) on the Ken Coleman radio show .

“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.’ 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.”

In the days that followed, negative comments began to pile up on the company’s social media pages forcing the Chick-fil-A public relations team to issue this statement:

The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.

Chick-fil-A is a family-owned and family-led company serving the communities in which it operates. From the day Truett Cathy started the company, he began applying biblically based principles to managing his business. For example, we believe that closing on Sundays, operating debt-free and devoting a percentage of our profits back to our communities are what make us a stronger company and Chick-fil-A family.

Our mission is simple: to serve great food, provide genuine hospitality and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.

The controversy inspired a Huffington Post article on how to make “Chick-fil-Gay” sandwiches at home.

Jim Henson’s company refused to allow its iconic Muppet characters to be included in the restaurants kids’ meals.

Fake online ads mocked the company’s advertising and billboard slogans.

Mayors, governors, and former presidential candidates have been weighing in all this week.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel doesn’t want the chain to open a second restaurant in his city saying, “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values. They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty.”

In Boston, Mayor Thomas Menino vowed to stop Chick-fil-A from opening its first location there.

“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against the population,” Menino says. “We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion. That’s the Freedom Trail. That’s where it all started right here. And we’re not going to have a company, Chick-fil-A or whatever the hell the name is, on our Freedom Trail.”

There were widespread reports that Chick-fil-A created a Facebook account so they could post positive comments about the company. Not true, they say. “There is a lot of misinformation out there. The latest is we have been accused of impersonating a teenager with a fake Facebook profile. We want you to know we would never do anything like that and this claim is 100% false.”

Now, the pendulum of outrage against the restaurant is swinging back with people supporting their view of traditional marriage.

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee says he is “incensed at the vitriolic assaults” on the Chick Fil-A. He’s launching a nationwide Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day for August 1st, urging people to visit the restaurant that day or to make their support known via social media.

In 2012, does a private business have to support gay marriage, and if it doesn’t should the company leaders keep their opinions to themselves?

By LINDA THOMAS