June 27, 2013 1:58 PM
(credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
ATLANTA (CBS Atlanta/AP) — Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy has waded into the gay marriage issue once again.
Following the Supreme Court rulings Wednesday striking down the Defense of Marriage Act and opening the door for same-sex marriages in California, Cathy took to Twitter to criticize the rulings.
“Sad day for our nation; founding fathers would be ashamed of our gen. to abandon wisdom of the ages re: cornerstone of strong societies,” Cathy tweeted. It was later deleted from his account.
The fast food restaurant backed away from Cathy’s comments. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Chick-fil-A said it was not focusing on the Supreme Court rulings.
“We believe in providing great-tasting food and genuine hospitality to everyone — so our focus is on running an exceptional restaurant company,” a statement to the Journal read. “Therefore, we are leaving political decisions and discussions to others and focusing only on what we do best.”
Cathy created a firestorm last year when he came out against gay marriage, leading to protests and boycotts of Chick-fil-A. Thousands of supporters though flocked to restaurants nationwide last August for Chick-fil-A “Appreciation Day” to stand behind the company’s platform.
“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,” Cathy said in a 2012 interview with the Baptist Press. “We operate as a family business … our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that.”
President Barack Obama praised the court’s ruling against the federal marriage act, labeling the law “discrimination enshrined in law.”
“It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people,” Obama said in a statement. “The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it.”
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he was disappointed in the outcome of the federal marriage case and hoped states continue to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Boehner, as speaker, had stepped in as the main defender of the law before the court after the Obama administration declined to defend it.
Chick-fil-A – which first opened in 1946 and has grown into a $4.6 billion company – does not hide its religious affiliation. The company’s corporate purpose states: “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us. To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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