OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) -
Hundreds of Chick-fil-A customers are turning in support of the fast food restaurant.
KCTV5 viewers report long lines and full parking lots. But others are protesting.
KCTV5 staff members said Overland Park police helped direct traffic at the 135th Street location.
Lauri Larsen commented on KCTV5's Facebook page that it took almost two hours to get her food after she ordered it.
"I didn't mind a bit," she wrote. "People were sharing their tables with total strangers and no one was angry or upset. We just waited and chatted. It was fun."
Others are vowing never to eat at the restaurant again.
Chick-fil-A, the fast-food chain known for putting faith ahead of profits by closing on Sundays, is standing firm in its opposition to gay marriage after touching off a furor earlier this month.
Gay rights groups have called for a boycott, the Jim Henson Co. pulled its Muppet toys from kids' meals, and politicians in Boston and Chicago told the chain it is not welcome there.
Across the Bible Belt, where most of the 1,600 restaurants are situated, Christian conservatives have thrown their support behind the Atlanta-based company, promising to buy chicken sandwiches and waffle fries on "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day." But many in the Kansas City area are also participating.
While some are protesting and opposing plans to open new stores in the area.
Lines were long at Chick-fil-A locations throughout the metro area.
Supporters of gay marriage are being asked to go to the stores on Friday and kiss each other as part of "Kiss Mor Chiks" day.
The latest skirmish in the nation's culture wars began when Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press that the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." In a later radio interview, he ratcheted up the rhetoric: "I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.'"
That fired up gay rights advocates, including a group that waged a campaign against the company in recent years by publicizing $3 million in contributions that the Cathy family foundation has made to conservative organizations such as the Family Research Council.
"This solidifies Chick-fil-A as being closely aligned with some of the most vicious anti-gay voices in the country," said Carlos Maza of Equality Matters.
Others say this is a free-speech issue and they wanted to support Cathy's free-speech rights. One customer said he doesn't think the company has anti-gay hiring practices, but it is important to show support for traditional marriage.
Others were outraged a company would take such a stand in the 21st Century.
Chick-fil-A restaurants were packed today in the Atlanta area. Click here to read more about this story.
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Copyright 2012 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) and Associated Press. All rights reserved.
© Courtesy of Johnna Morgan
© Jeannene Kiesling/KCTV5
