Chick-fil-A CEO Regrets Being So Public About Gay Marriage Views

Dan Cathy, the CEO and president of Chick-fil-A, stands by his long-expressed views about gay marriage, but in a new interview he admits he has regrets about just how vocal he was about those views. He spoke of “mistakes that you make” as you pass through different levels of maturity, saying, “You learn from those mistakes. If not, you’re just a fool. I’m thankful that I lived through it and I learned a lot from it.”

The firestorm over Cathy’s views started in 2012 when he said “guilty as charged” in response to questions about his anti-gay beliefs. However, Cathy has insisted that his personal views do not reflect how the company is run (apart from Chick-fil-A locations being closed on Sundays), and admitted the controversy caused them more trouble that it was worth.

“Probably the elements that were stressful for me most is from our internal staff and from operators and how this may be affecting them,” he said. “The bottom line is we have a responsibility here to keep the whole of the organization in mind and it has to take precedence over the personal expression and opinion on social issues.”

Cathy has decided to step out of the gay marriage debate for now after consulting with friends and colleagues, explaining, “the wiser thing for us to do is to stay focused on customer service.”

[h/t Gawker]

[photo via Chick-fil-A]

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Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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