Protest to target UK's first Chick-fil-A

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Protesters are planning to target the UK's first Chick-fil-A restaurant over claims about the company's history of support for anti-gay groups.

LGBT+ charity Reading Pride is to hold a peaceful demonstration outside the US fried chicken chain's Reading site, which opened last week, on 19 October.

Chick-fil-A has faced a boycott in North America after its CEO made comments opposing same-sex marriage in 2012.

It has also been criticised for past donations made to organisations with a reported anti-LGBT+ stance, but the restaurant group says it now focuses its charitable efforts on 'youth, education and leadership' programmes.  

A spokesperson for the chicken chain, which was founded in 1967 and operates over 2,000 US restaurants, told BigHospitality the company "has no social or political agenda".

In a Facebook event calling to #GetTheChickOut, Reading Pride wrote: “The aim is to enlighten potential patrons to the Chick-fil-A chain and their anti LGBT+ stance.

“Ultimately we want to see the chain removed from Reading and ultimately the UK.”

A spokesperson for Chick-fil-A told BigHospitality: “We hope our guests in the UK will see that Chick-fil-A is a restaurant company focused on serving great food and hospitality...we are represented by more than 145,000 people from different backgrounds and beliefs, and we welcome everyone.”

Chick-fil-A opened its first international site under franchise in Toronto, Canada in September. The launch was also met with protests from LGBT+ and animal-rights activists.