'Guilty as charged': President of fast food chain Chick-fil-A OUTS his company as ANTI-GAY marriage... and he's proud of it

Chick-fil-A COO Dan Cathy said in explosive interview that company is only supportive of heterosexual family values

Added that business is family-based 'and we are married to our first wives'

Company donated more than $3m between 2003 and 2009 to Christian organisations with anti-gay agendas



The fast food chain Chick-fil-A has long been suspected of having an anti-gay agenda, and this week, the company’s COO has decidedly come out on the side of the 'biblical definition of the family unit.’

Dan Cathy, the president of the multimillion-dollar empire said in an interview with the conservative p aper Baptist Press th at his company is ‘very much supportive of the family,’ but only when it involves heterosexual couples.

‘Well, guilty as charged,’ Cathy responded when asked about Chick-fil-A’s backing of ‘traditional’ families with a husband and wife.

Anti-gay: Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy's comments against gay marriage have caused a huge amount of criticism from consumers

‘We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives,’ Cathy continued, according to the Los Angeles Times .

The Atlanta-based business currently has 1,608 locations and boasts sales of more than $4billion. According to the paper, Chick-fil-A workers are trained ‘to focus on values rooted in the Bible,’ and the eateries nationwide are closed on Sundays.

‘We don’t claim to be a Christian business,’ Mr Cathy said. ‘Companies are not lost or saved, but certainly individuals are. But as an organization we can operate on biblical principles.’

The company, founded in 1946 by Cathy’s father, S. Truett Cathy, has come under fire for donating more than $3million between 2003 and 2009 to Christian organizations with a well-known anti-gay agenda, among them the Marriage & Family Foundation and the Family Research Council.

Activist business: It has been reported that Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to Christian groups that oppose gay marriage

'Going forward': The Atlanta-based fast food chain released a statement on Facebook saying they will 'leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena'

According to a report from LGBT advocacy group Equality Matters, in 2010 alone Chick-fil-A gave nearly $2million to such causes.

CLUCKING MAD: ACTOR ED HELMS LASHES OUT AGAINST CHICK-FIL-A Ed Helms, known for his memorable roles in The Hangover and The Office, posted his two cents on Twitter today, writing: ‘Chick-Fil-A doesn’t like gay people? So lame. Hate to think what they do to the gay chickens,’ adding that the restaurant ‘lost a loyal fan.’

Other celebrities like Andy Richter took to the microblogging site to say: ‘Plenty of other chicken sandwiches out there, folks.’

Despite the food chain’s history of providing financial support to faith-based groups that oppose homosexuality, Cathy’s comments appear to contradict his previously stated position on the issue.

In a 2011 interview with the Atlanta Journal Constitution , Cathy said that his business ‘opted not to get involved in the political debate. It's never been our agenda.’

However, in last month’s radio interview on The Ken Coleman Show, Cathy stated in no uncertain terms where he stands on the issue of gay marriage.



‘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,’ and 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,' he said at the time.



Cathy said this week that he realizes that their stance on same-sex marriage may not be ‘popular with everyone,’ but his company’s leaders intend to stay the course.



Chick-fil-A’s record of donations to anti-gay groups through the company’s charity organization, WinShape, has already prompted Northeastern University in Boston to abandon plans to open an eatery on campus.

The chain also faced criticism when it sponsored a relationship seminar in Pennsylvania that banned same-sex couples from attending, Philadelphia Magazine reported.



Change of heart: Northeastern University in Boston scrapped plans to open a Chick-fil-A on campus last year