Gay Marriage Differences End Muppet Partnership with Chick-fil-A

The company behind the Muppets has ended their partnership with the popular restaurant chain Chick-fil-A due to differing stances on gay marriage. The Jim Henson Company decided to no longer provide Muppets-themed toys to Chick-fil-A restaurants, after Chick-fil-A’s president, Dan Cathy, stated he and his company support Christian groups that are anti-gay marriage, ABC News reports.

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The Jim Henson Company released a statement that says, “The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors. Lisa Henson, our CEO, is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed us to donate the payment we received from Chick-fil-A to GLAAD.”

GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, is far from the type of organizations Chick-fil-A has a history of supporting. Equality Matters, a LGBT advocacy group, reports that Chick-fil-A donated over $3 million to anti-gay Christian groups between 2003 and 2009. Then Chick-fil-A increased their financial support of these groups by donating $2 million just in 2010, reports ABC News.

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Dan Cathy is open about the company’s position on gay marriage. In an interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy said, “We are 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. We give God thanks for that.”

Has this changed your view of Chick-fil-A?