Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy dodges question on LGBTQ+ equality in new interview

This story originally appeared on Out.

Chick-fil-A is once again in the headlines.

In his first-ever broadcast interview with Today, CEO Andrew Cathy dodged questions on Chick-fil-A's longstanding homophobic views. "I think that everybody that would be willing to walk in the door, they’ll see that they're welcome to come eat with us," he said about the company's position on equal rights.

The origins of the Chick-fil-A controversy goes all the way back to 2012. In Pride Month of that year, then-CEO (and Cathy's father) Dan Cathy publicly stated in interviews that the company was supportive of the "biblical definition of the family" and opposed same-sex marriage.

Throughout the years, the company's charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation, had donated money to conservative Christian organizations that opposed same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights. As a result, the fast food chain has sparked nationwide boycotts, protests, and pushback from politicians and university groups.

Today reporter Craig Melvin grilled Cathy on the company's controversial viewpoints, but Cathy refused to acknowledge the LGBTQ+ community in the interview.

At one point, Melvin asks point blank, "You don't want to talk about that chapter in Chick-fil-A's history?" Cathy responds to Melvin's question by stating, "We're focused on serving everybody that come in to eat with us. We're focused on hospitality, serving great tasting food and great service."

The comment section lit up on Instagram with many pointing out that Cathy didn't help clarify if the company actually values equality or LGBTQ+ rights.

"Not saying anything about equal rights is definitely saying something about equal rights," Brian Balthazar said. Even Andy Cohen chimed in by commenting, "THIS AIN'T IT DUDE. you had a chance to win us all back and you blew it." RuPaul's Drag Race judge Ross Mathews relied on his punny humor and said, "Too chicken to answer directly?"

Iconic journalist Katie Couric even called out Cathy's answer by commenting, "A non answer answer. This is what his father Dan Cathy said in 2012: 'We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition.' A good follow up would have been: 'Do you agree with you father?'"

Mike DelVlahos criticized Cathy's rehearsed answer by saying, "media training can only take you so far when your values are discriminatory."