Chicken squawk draws gay smoochers

KRQE TV

Updated: Aug 4, 2012 4:40 PM

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) — Smooching supplemented picket signs Friday as supporters of same-sex marriage renewed their protest over public remarks by a chicken-dealing CEO.

Get Equal New Mexico organized the kiss-in at Albuquerque's newest Chick-fil-A restaurant on Montgomery Boulevard NE near San Mateo.

Participant Morgan Miller described the gathering as "lots of smooching, man. Smooching. A lot of love."

Chick-fil-A came under fire after CEO Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press he supports "traditional marriage." That touched a nerve in the gay community while igniting support for Cathy's company among those opposed to gay marriage.

The Friday evening protest was the second in Albuquerque this week.

"Basically it's a celebration of love, and it's a demand for our equal rights," said Lisa Taj McCellon of Get Equal New Mexico. "I am somebody, and I demand full equality right here, right now."

Heapin' helpings of rhetoric about same sex couples and their right to marry have been served-up nationally around the Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A locations for most of this week.

A call for support for the company brought record sales to the chain on Wednesday and led to a traffic backup in the street outside one Albuquerque location.

"Because I express my opinion doesn't mean that I hate that person." gay-marriage opponent Todd Johnson told KRQE News 13. "I don't like what they're doing; that's my First Amendment right.

"They can do what they're out here doing, and I can do what I'm doing. That's the beauty of America."

Get Equal New Mexico said the event wasn't about free speech but about the company's financial support of conservative groups that oppose gay marriage.

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