Chick-fil-A preps for same-sex 'Kiss Day'

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COLLEGE PARK, Ga., Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Gay rights activists plan a "National Same-Sex Kiss Day" at Chick-fil-A stores across the United States, responding to a company official's stance on marriage.

The Kiss Day on Friday follows Wednesday's "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" in which diners turned out in droves at restaurants to support the company after President and CEO Dan Cathy warned against trying to "redefine" marriage as anything but a union between a man and a woman, CNN reported.

Organizers of Friday's event used social media to urge same-sex couples to participate in the kissing event.

Chick-fil-A officials said the chain set a sales record Wednesday, but did not release any numbers.

"We can confirm reports that it was a record-setting day," said Steve Robinson, executive vice president of marketing.

The controversy began when an interview with Cathy appeared in The Baptist Press July 16 in which he discussed his views on family.

"We are very much supportive of the family, the biblical definition of the family unit," Cathy said. "We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."

His statement caused an uproar, with rights activists saying Cathy's comments were in opposition to same-sex marriages.

Thousands of people in Atlanta and across the nation turned out for "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" led by former Arkansas governor and one-time presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Huckabee told Fox News doesn't oppose Friday's protest as long as participants are "orderly ... [and] don't disrupt the flow of customers and traffic."

Friday's event is sponsored by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which also called for a boycott Chick-fil-A not only for Cathy's comments but also for money GLAAD says Chick-fil-A donated through its charitable unit to groups lobbying against legalization of same-sex marriages.