Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy Sidesteps LGBTQ+ Rights Questions

Asked where Chick-fil-A stands on equal rights, CEO Andrew Cathy pointed to hospitality instead, drawing criticism from Katie Couric and dividing viewers over whether welcoming LGBTQ+ customers amounts to supporting their rights.

Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy said everyone is welcome to eat at the fast-food chain. When asked whether the company supports equal rights for LGBTQ+ people, he did not answer directly.

During an interview broadcast Wednesday, Oct. 14, on NBC’s “Today,” co-anchor Craig Melvin pressed Cathy about the company’s history of donations to organizations opposed to LGBTQ+ rights and the protests that followed. Cathy repeatedly returned to the restaurant chain’s food and customer service rather than stating its position on equality.

“We’re focused on hospitality, serving great-tasting food, and great service,” Cathy said when Melvin asked for the company’s official position on equal rights, according to “Today”.

The exchange left a distinction unresolved: Cathy offered assurances about how LGBTQ+ customers would be treated inside Chick-fil-A restaurants, but he did not say whether the company supports their equal rights.

The questions came during a broader conversation for NBC News’ “Business in America” series, which explored the family-owned company’s growth, Christian faith and business practices.

Melvin asked Cathy what he would say to people who had protested or boycotted Chick-fil-A because they believed the company did not stand with the LGBTQ+ community.

“Well, for anybody that hasn’t tried us, we’d love for you to come try and have our great-tasting food and the hospitality that we’re known for,” Cathy said. “I think that everybody that will be willing to walk in the door, they’ll see that they’re welcome to come eat with us. We’d love to give them a great-tasting sandwich and give them great hospitality.”

Melvin followed up.

“You don’t want to talk about that chapter in Chick-fil-A’s history, do you?” he asked.

“We’re focused on serving everybody that comes in and eats with us,” Cathy replied, according to TV Insider’s account of the interview.

When Melvin asked again, this time specifically about the company’s official position on equal rights, Cathy returned to hospitality, food, and service. He did not explicitly endorse or oppose LGBTQ+ equality in that response.

The scrutiny dates back more than a decade.

In 2012, Cathy’s father, then-company leader Dan Cathy, publicly expressed opposition to same-sex marriage. Disclosures about the company’s donations to organizations with records of opposing LGBTQ+ rights also fueled protests and boycotts.

In November 2019, the Chick-fil-A Foundation announced a revised charitable giving strategy that would take effect in 2020, concentrating on education, homelessness and hunger. NBC News reported that the foundation committed $9 million to Junior Achievement USA, Covenant House International and more than 120 local food banks.

LGBTQ+ advocates greeted that announcement cautiously. GLAAD pointed to earlier assurances about charitable giving that had not resolved concerns over subsequent donations.

“Chick-fil-A investors, employees and customers can greet today’s announcement with cautious optimism, but should remember that similar press statements were previously proven to be empty,” Drew Anderson, then GLAAD’s director of campaigns, said at the time.

That history gives Melvin’s question significance beyond whether customers can expect courteous service. The 2019 announcement addressed where the foundation would direct its charitable dollars; Cathy’s latest answers did not establish an explicit company position on LGBTQ+ equality

The interview prompted competing reactions online, with some viewers criticizing Cathy’s answers as evasive and others defending his emphasis on welcoming everyone.

Former “Today” co-anchor Katie Couric weighed in, citing Dan Cathy’s 2012 statement supporting “the family — the biblical definition.” She suggested Melvin could have followed up by asking Andrew Cathy whether he agreed with his father, according to Fast Company.

Other viewers saw Cathy’s response differently.

“A great answer. A restaurant with true hospitality opens its doors to all and is committed to providing excellent service to each patron who walks through the door,” one Instagram commenter wrote.

Another commenter called the response “a cop out answer from an executive,” the outlet reported. Those individual comments reflected opposing reactions to the exchange, not a representative measure of public opinion.

Although Cathy did not directly state a position on LGBTQ+ rights, he spoke explicitly about Christianity’s role in the business.

“It’s our anchor in the sense of what our corporate purpose states, that we’re in business to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us, and have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A,” he said.

He also defended the chain’s longstanding practice of closing on Sundays, describing it as a way to give employees a predictable day off, whether they spend it attending church or doing something else. Cathy said he had never calculated how much revenue the company forgoes by remaining closed because opening on Sundays is not under consideration.

“We’re not trying to scrape out every penny that we possibly can,” he said, explaining that private family ownership allows the company to make decisions it believes benefit employees.

Beyond questions about LGBTQ+ rights and faith, Cathy addressed prices, shifting customer preferences, and the company’s future. He said Chick-fil-A would not shrink its products to keep prices down, rejecting the practice commonly called shrinkflation. He also said the growing use of GLP-1 medications coincided with demand for protein, noting that the chain offers more than 28 items with more than 25 grams of protein, and that the demand for a tested cauliflower sandwich “was not great,” leading the company to set that offering aside. Lastly, he admitted that Chick-fil-A had explored artificial intelligence for some behind-the-scenes functions while continuing to prioritize human interaction in customer service.