Kiss Mor Chiks: Gay rights activists protest Chick-fil-A with ‘kiss in’

Chick-fil-A remains at the center of a culture war with marriage equality supporters planning to converge onto the fast-food restaurants Friday and kiss fellow demonstrators.

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Staging a kiss-in

Same-sex couples kiss outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Fresno, Calif. Gay rights activists kissed at Chick-fil-A stores across the U.S. on Friday, just days after the company set a sales record when customers flocked to the restaurants to show support for the fast-food chain president's opposition to gay marriage.

Craig Kohlruss / AP

In support of gay rights

Gay-rights groups and others protest and hold a "kiss-in" outside the Decatur, Ga., Chick-fil-A restaurant. About two dozen protesters gathered on the busy corner to voice their views.

David Tulis / AP

Defending a viewpoint in Tennessee

Sheila Smith wears a sign showing support for Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy outside the fast-food chain's store on Union Avenue in Memphis, on "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day." The event was popularized by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee after Chick-fil-A's president Dan Cathy said he is "guilty as charged" for opposing same-sex marriage. Many in the gay-rights community called for a boycott of the chain and some mayors, including those of Chicago and Boston, declared the restaurant to be unwelcome in their cities. "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" was intended to counter these responses by showing support for Cathy's stance on the gay-marriage issue.

Brandon Dill / AP

A kiss of protest in California

Eduardo Cisneros,l eft and Luke Montgomery kiss amid support in front of a Chick-fil-A fast-food restaurant in Hollywood. Gay men and lesbians puckered up in protest Friday, staging "kiss-ins" outside Chick-fil-A outlets across the United States over the fast-food chain's opposition to same-sex marriage.

Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

Dining options

A man holds a sign for cars passing on Sunset Boulevard in front of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Hollywood.

Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

Staging a kiss-in

Jim Fortier, left, and Mark Toomajian kiss as they join about two dozen members of gay-rights groups and others protesting outside the Decatur, Ga., Chick-fil-A restaurant.

David Tulis / AP

Protesting in Texas

Whitney Copeland, left, and Skye Newkirk hold hands outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Dallas. The couple joined several others to protest Chick-fil-A's stance on gay marriage.

Tom Pennington / Getty Images

The writing on the wall

The exterior wall of a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Torrance, Calif., was tagged with graffiti that said "Tastes like hate" and had a picture of a cow. No one has been arrested.

Sandy Mazza / AP

Smooching in Georgia

Protesters take part in a "kiss-in" outside a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta.

Bob Andres / AP

Eating more chicken

Customers heeded a call to support the Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, standing in a longer-than-usual line in an outlet in Columbus, Ga. Republicans on Capitol Hill and Sarah and Todd Palin also took part in the one-day support effort.

Mike Haskey / AP

Traffic jams in Texas

The drive-through is backed up outside a Chick-fil-A in Longview, Tex. Just hours earlier in Texas, tea-party-supported Ted Cruz celebrated his U.S. Senate GOP primary victory with a spread of Chick-fil-A for supporters.

Kevin Green / AP

They waited on foot

The line went out the doors of the Chick-fil-A in New Bern, N.C. Company president Dan Cathy has said the company is ''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.”

Chuck Beckley / AP

Patient lunchgoers in Northern Virginia

Huge crowds of supporters waited at Chick-fil-A at Backlick Center in Springfield, Va. It was standing room only inside. Some cars had been waiting more than an hour along Backlick Road to go through the drive-through.

Tracy A. Woodward / The Washington Post

Standing up in Myrtle Beach

Customers wait in line at a packed Chick-fil-A in Myrtle Beach, S.C., during lunch.

Charles Slate / AP

Success!

A view through the window into the Backlick Center Chick-fil-A in Springfield, Va., shows a few customers sitting to eat, while others wait to sit or eat standing up. The company's president has said advocates for same-sex marriage are ''inviting God's judgment on our nation.''

Tracy A. Woodward / The Washington Post

Out-Chick-fil-A'd in Texas

Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst visited a Chick-fil-A in Austin, Tex., the day before Tuesday's Republican Senate runoff. The photo op didn't work — he was defeated by tea-party-supported Ted Cruz, who served Chick-fil-A to supporters at his victory party.

Ricardo Brazziell / AP

The issues aren't going away

The Chick-fil-A furor has prompted debate about individual religious and free speech rights and the role of commerce on social issues. Another issue: Should stances taken by governmental leaders (mayors of Boston, Washington and Chicago have spoken out against Chick-Fil-A's opposition to same-sex marriage) translate into suppressing the activities of others whose positions they find objectionable? (At left, the drive-through line at lunchtime at a Chick-fil-A in Springfield, Va.)

Tracy A. Woodward / The Washington Post

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