ATLANTA (AP/NewsChannel 5) - Supporters of Chick-fil-A are flocking to restaurants in the chicken chain as the company continues to be criticized for an executive's comments about gay marriage.
Thousands of people in Brentwood, Cookeville, Hermitage, Hendersonville, and Mt. Juliet showed their support by patronizing the restaurant Wednesday.
"That's their choice and we're just here to support that this is the way they choose to run their company," said Rebecca Robinson, at the Nashville location.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister, declared Wednesday national "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day."
Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press last month that the Atlanta-based company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." That unleashed a torrent of criticism from gay rights groups and others, who have called for boycotts and efforts to block the chain from opening new stores.
Opponents of the company's stance are planning "Kiss Mor Chiks" for Friday, when they are encouraging people of the same sex to show up at Chick-fil-A restaurants around the country and kiss each other.
The President of the Tennessee Equality Project says they've gotten a number of contributions from people of what they would have spent at Chick-fil-A.
(The Associated Press Contributed To This Report.)
Line forms around Hermitage Chick-fil-A (Photo submitted by viewer Angie Barham)
Drive-thru at Cookeville Chick-fil-A (Submitted via my5 by Katherine)
Overflow parking behind Columbia Chick-fil-A.
