Kids & Family

Same-Sex Kiss at Chick-fil-A

Gays, lesbians and their friends protested Chick-fil-A's financial support of groups that oppose same-sex marriage.

It was supposed to be , but the group that gathered outside the Decatur Chick-fil-A at midday Friday did more placard-waving than smooching.

At noon, about 15 gays, lesbians and their friends stood on the sidewalk at North McDonough Street and East Trinity Place to tell the world they're angry that Chick-fil-A money supports organizations opposing same-sex marriage.

Sign-wavers hooted whenever a motorist honked. Somebody brought a cooler full of water and a couple of little kids sat in the grass and ate fast food from another restaurant. An equal number of reporters and photographers showed up to record the event.

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Jim Fortier and Mark Toomajian of Atlanta kissed on cue for the camera, then kissed again because a photographer missed the first one.

Toomajian said Chick-fil-A's support of anti-gay marriage groups is comparable to a company giving money to a racist organization like the Ku Klux Klan.

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"It's the same thing," he said. "Would people stand for that?"

Two women kissed, but one balked when a reporter asked her name. Her boss didn't know she'd missed work to come to the event, her kissing partner said.

Melody Edgerton, holding a homemade sign that said "Gay rights are equal rights," said she came to support her friends.

"There's a lot of gay people in my life," she said.

While the protest was under way, customers walked in and out of the restaurant.

Here are some other Decatur/Avondale Patch stories about Chick-fil-A and gay marriage.


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