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Henson, Huckabee take sides in Chick-fil-A same-sex marriage controversy
[Updated at 6:36 p.m. ET] The comments about same-sex marriage made by Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy a week ago continue to generate controversy this week, with politicians and fantasy creatures, well at least their handlers, weighing in.
"Guilty as charged," Cathy was quoted as saying in the Baptist Press last week when asked about his company's support of the traditional family unit as opposed to same-sex marriage.
"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," Cathy was quoted as saying.
That stance didn't go over well with the Jim Henson Co., whose Jim Henson's Creature Shop toys have been served up in Chick-fil-A's meals for kids. Jim Henson Co. is named after the creator of the Muppets, though the company transferred the Muppets' rights and ownership to the Walt Disney Co. in 2003, according to Jim Henson Co.
"The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors," the company said in a posting on its Facebook page.
"Lisa Henson, our CEO, is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-fil-A to GLAAD (the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)," the Henson Co.'s posting said.
The posting, which is dated Friday, had drawn more than 10,000 likes and 2,000 comments as of Tuesday morning.
Also drawing numbers on Facebook was a page by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a 2008 GOP presidential candidate, which calls for people to turn out to Chick-fil-A restaurants on August 1 to show their support for what Cathy had to say about marriage.
"I have been incensed at the vitriolic assaults on the Chick fil-A company because the CEO, Dan Cathy, made comments recently in which he affirmed his view that the biblical view of marriage should be upheld," Huckabee wrote on the page, which can also be found at www.ISupportChickFilA.com.
"No one is being asked to make signs, speeches or openly demonstrate. The goal is simple: Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday, August 1," wrote Huckabee. As of Tuesday morning, more than 88,000 people had indicated they would be heading to a restaurant on August 1.
One place Chick-fil-A supporters won't be eating on August 1 is Boston. The Massachusetts capital has no Chick-fil-A restaurants, and after Cathy's comments, Boston's mayor says he doesn't want any in his city.
“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston. You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino was quoted as saying by the Boston Herald.
For its part, Chick-fil-A said last week as the controversy was heating up that it didn't want to be involved in politics.
"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," said a statement from Don Perry, the company's vice president of corporate public relations.
But don't expect those comments to calm things.
The next focus of the controversy may be the Chick-fil-A in Laguna Hills, California. Youth Empowered to Act, an Orange County group of LGBT leaders age 14 to 24, says on its Facebook page it will protest outside the restaurant's opening on Thursday. The group will try to persuade potential customers to take their business to nearby competitors that the group says do more to support LGBT equality, according to a posting on the GLAAD site.
Correction: Previous versions of this story identified toys given away with Chick-Fil-A meals as Muppets. They were not. The toys are characters from Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
More on Chick-fil-A and religion:
A social media storm over Chick-fil-A
Overheard on CNN.com: Readers defend Chick-fil-A
Ed Helms has beef with Chick-fil-A
Eatocracy: Fast food with a side of faith
10 religious companies besides Chick-fil-A
Chick-fil-A controversy sheds light on restaurant's Christian DNA
It is Dan Cathy's right to hold opinions, but when he is the CEO of a company that serves all types of people, you would think he'd be a little more cautious about voicing those opinions.
Let everyone shut up about assumption discrimination and let test it! Bring 2 gay married into Chick-Fil-A. Let see what employers and employees reaction when they see them and what will they do. Will they continue to serve well-mannered or refuse to serve? After you get the results, you guys can slam down opinions about it.
So everything is OK as long as you give money.... Yep that sounds like america.
a-freakking-men!
J Saunders you don't get it...He is forcing us to line up by donating millions to hate groups to discriminate against gays.
big difference between been against gay marriage and against gay .
Dan Cathy deserves props for standing up for what he believes in. And the Boston mayor is an idiot. Cathy never said that Chick-fil-A wouldn't serve gays or even those that support gay marriage, therefore neither Chick-fil-A nor Cathy are discriminating against anyone in their/his privately owned business.
No Joe you are the idiot, Mr Cathy has stated publicly that his company does donate millions to anti-gay organizations, and the Mayor of Boston deserves an A for supporting human rights.
it doesn't matter if he said he will serve them or not..... he's lost their business either way. he's an idiot on many levels.
So Cathy can voice his opinion and one on behalf of his company and he gets approval. Yet the mayor of Boston does the same thing and he is called an idiot. A little biased, eh?
How exactly is the mayor of Boston an idiot for doing the same thing Cathy did? He's just standing up for his beliefs too. And whereas Cathy is perfectly happy to accept money from a paying customer, he's handing some of that money over to groups who try and prevent the rights of a group of people. It would be just as outrageous if he served blacks and donated to the KKK.
Another perversion promoting move by the disgusting gay community, and once again it involves children, who are the Muppet audience.
1. Henson doesn't even have the authority to pull anything, the Muppets were sold to Disney in '03
2. Chick-fil-A has NEVER used Muppet products in theirnpromotions, so there isn't even any products to pull. LOL
Henson family has final approval of all "Muppet" products.
Disney just pays the bills and splits the profits.
Wait till Fozzy kisses Ralph right on the snout.
A bear kissing a dog, eeeewwwwwick.
If you're going to run a company as large as Chik-fil-a, I guess you should probably consider the fact that what you say will likely be picked and torn apart by the masses. I don't really have a problem with a company stating that they support traditional marraige, I just think it was pretty stupid for them to announce it publicly. Of course people are going to react, some negative, some positive. In the end, they are likely to lose more business than gain. Everyone knows they are a Christian based business, but most probably never thought about whether they had anything against LGBT. Pretty dumb move. Pretty dumb.
If you're going to run a company as large as Chik-fil-a, I guess you should probably consider the fact that what you say will likely be picked and torn apart by the masses. I don't really have a problem with a company stating that they support traditional marraige, I just think it was pretty stupid for them to announce it publicly. Of course people are going to react, some negative, some positive. In the end, they are likely to lose more business than gain. Everyone knows they are a Christian based business, but most probably never thought about whether they had anything against LGBT. Pretty dumb move. Pretty dumb.
So is it safe to assume you don't like that Jim Henson has publicly declared his support for gay marriage? I don't think it dumb at all to make a public stand for what you believe in. I am a Christian and fully support this company's Christian stance. I support and applaud Chi-fil-A's public announcement. Now, there's no gray area. If you support gay marriage you now know of at least one company to avoid and that is your right.
That'll do pig, that'll do
I asked Miss Piggy for a quote.
She said she couldnt talk to me, she had a little frog in her throat.
Yeah for the Muppets !
Let's not forget what the Henson people will gain from this free publicity.. they could have quietly discontinued their relationship with the muppets, but they used it as a platform to gain publicity for a product that hasn't been doing to well... good marketing ploy there and welcome to the world of evil politics. Jump right in guys, the water is boiling..
Muppets are doing very well.
Maroon.
What is all the turmoil about? 1. Chik-fil-a has the best fast food. If they want to belief in Religion, that is their business.
I'm with Chick-fil-a. Screw the muppets
Cathy said he didnt want to be invloved in politics
after making a political comment.
Can you say "moron" ?
Since WHEN is it politics to make public your beliefs. You are not a Christian and you hate those who are. Why don't you just say that a get it over with?!?
" the biblical definition" of anything is complete nonsense, unless it is defining the bible or how people used to think >2,000 years ago.
does that mean GAY will stop eating at any restaurant owned by someone that has a strong relgion belief that marriage should only be between man and woman( that will includes all jewish ,christain and muslim owners). what a stupied idea. the man just said what his belief teach , what does that has to do with his business.
Considering current social trends in America (their primary market) coming out with the bigot stance was pretty stupid.
he was asked and he answered, do you want him to lie . and you do not change your belife cuz of social trand. why is it a bigot if you say i do not think gay marriage is not what i think is right cuz of my religion teaching. are all jews muslim and christian bigots?
Dang that is too bad, I like chik fil a and my daughter likes to play in their playgrounds. I guess we will have to back off for awhile till they get their heads out of their arsh.
Move on Muppets...who cares about Jim Henson anyway.
chic-fil-a rocks
I am surprised people are this surprised about this company. They have (as far as I know) never been open on Sunday and have presented children's meals with overt religious leaning messages for years.
No more muppets for me. For those talking about the Bible, the FIRST marriage was between Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. God made man for woman. The Bible also mentions the abomination of those seeking intamacy with their own gender. Why do you think Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. You need to read the Bible from cover to cover, not just look at the Concordance and try to pick verses that back your stance.