UK’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant to close after backlash from the LGBTQ community
The chief operating officer of the US restaurant chain opposed same-sex marriage in 2012
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
The UK’s first Chick-fil-A restaurant will close following backlash from the LGBTQ community.
The company made headlines in both the US and UK after it was revealed that the restaurant’s chief operating officer Dan T Cathy opposed same-sex marriage back in 2012
Cathy said at the time: “We’re 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 that thinks we have the audacity to redefine what marriage is all about.”
The Bapist-owned restaurant chain was also found to be funding anti-LGBTQ organisations.
It was also revealed that the restaurant’s charity foundation donated millions of dollars to anti-LGBTQ groups.
Earlier this month, the chain opened their first branch in the UK in The Oracle, in Reading, and it quickly prompted backlash on social media.
But now, the Guardian has reported that the Reading branch is closing its door because of backlash from the community.
Reading Pride, which organised protests outside the restaurant, said the chain’s ‘ethos and moral stance goes completely against our values, and that of the UK as we are a progressive country that has legalised same-sex marriage for some years and continues to strive towards equality’.