Cow Appreciation Day Protests Underway In Florida

It's Cow Appreciation Day, and whoever shows up to a Chick-Fil-A restaurant dressed as a cow will receive a free meal. But this year the restaurant chain is playing host to more than its standard patrons.

Marriage equality advocates in Florida are looking to use the company's annual giveaway to broadcast Chick-Fil-A's connection to antigay organizations. Protesters are wearing rainbow-colored regalia in addition to cow costumes when they place their orders at two of the restaurants Tallahassee locations, according to WCTV, and they are donating their sandwiches to a local homeless shelter.

Chick-Fil-A's official charitable arm gave nearly $2 million to antigay groups in 2010, according to an Equality Matters report released earlier this month. These groups include the National Christian Foundation, Exodus International, the Marriage and Family Foundation, and the Georgia Family Council. The Marriage and Family Foundation alone — which was founded to promote traditional, heterosexual marriage — got $1.1 million.