OPINION (RT) – The third-largest US fast food restaurant chain, Chick-fil-A, has more than doubled its annual sales since the company was boycotted by gay rights activists for donating to organizations that opposed same-sex marriage in 2012. In 2018, the chain had $10.5 billion in total sales, which amounts to a 16.7% increase in a year, according to the Journal & Courier outlet. It makes the increase in Chick-fil-A’s annual sales bigger than that of Starbucks, which is America’s second-largest restaurant chain behind McDonald’s. The exponential growth of Chick-fil-A’s profits and the chain’s expansion, by nearly 700 restaurants,

remained unhindered despite the company facing a massive backlash in 2012 when sales totaled $4.6 billion. Back then CEO Dan T. Cathy, the son of the founder and devout Baptist S. Truett Cathy, said that he supported traditional families. Earlier, the firm found itself in hot water after supporting Christian organizations, including those that opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage and promoted gay conversion therapy. “If you’re eating Chick-fil-A, you’re eating anti-gay,” the LGBT blog Towleroad said in 2011 after Chick-fil-A decided to donate food to a marriage seminar conducted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute, a group that supports traditional family values. READ MORE