Obama for America dines on Chick-fil-A

Unlike many pro-gay-marriage activists who have been boycotting
Chick-fil-A, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign Obama for
America has spent money at the restaurant chain.

Obama famously came out in support of gay marriage in May, enjoying a surge in campaign donations post-announcement.

But
in 2011 activists at ThinkProgress, Equity Matters, and other outlets
pinpointed Chick-fil-A as a multimillion-dollar donor to anti-gay
marriage causes through its charitable foundation arm.

While gay
activists have staged boycotts of the chain since then, expenditure
records at Political Moneyline show that on June 29, 2012 Obama for
America spent $62 at Chick-fil-A in Atlanta, Ga.

While the money
the campaign spent is pittance in comparison to Obama’s overall
re-election expenditures, it clashes with the president’s recent
endorsement of gay marriage and Chick-fil-A’s foray into the gay
marriage debate.

This month, Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy
ignited a bigger firestorm of criticism and additional boycotts — and
cheers from supporters of traditional marriage — when he confirmed to
the Baptist Press that the Atlanta-based company was “guilty as charged”
in its support of traditional marriage.

“We are very much
supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit,”
Cathy said. “We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and
we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.”

Despite
the Obama campaign dollars that went to Chick-fil-a, on Thursday Boston
Democratic Mayor Thomas Menino vowed to keep the eatery out of his
city.

“Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston,” Menino told the
Boston Herald. “You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that
discriminates against a population. We’re an open city, we’re a city
that’s at the forefront of inclusion.”

Chick-fil-A contends that is does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

“The
Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to
treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their
belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender,” a statement from
the restaurant chain, said according to the Associated Press. “Going
forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage
to the government and political arena.”

Romney for President Inc. has spent over $500 at Chick-fil-A this election cycle.