Story perspectives

Chick-fil-A CEO Says It Welcomes All Customers

By Drooid · Oct 15, 2026, 2:52 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

Chick-fil A CEO Andrew Cathy told NBC’s Today he welcomes all customers, avoiding comment on LGBTQ rights.
Craig Melvin asked Cathy about his father Dan Cathy’s 2012 anti-same-sex-marriage comments.
Chick-fil A donated $8 million to anti-gay-marriage groups, including $1.6 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
In 2019 the chain said it would stop funding those groups and instead target education, homelessness and hunger.

History

Historical Context

The 1970 Baker v. Nelson case left same-sex marriage unrecognized, but the late-1980s AIDS crisis revived debate. In May 1996 Bob Barr and Don Nickles introduced DOMA, which passed with 342 House votes and defined marriage as one man and one woman; it was later struck down by Windsor (2013) and Obergefell (2015) and repealed by 2022 Respect for Marriage Act, influencing corporate anti-LGBTQ efforts.

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Story summary

Chick-fil A CEO Andrew Cathy told NBC’s Today he welcomes all customers, avoiding comment on LGBTQ rights.
Craig Melvin asked Cathy about his father Dan Cathy’s 2012 anti-same-sex-marriage comments.
Chick-fil A donated $8 million to anti-gay-marriage groups, including $1.6 million to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
In 2019 the chain said it would stop funding those groups and instead target education, homelessness and hunger.

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