Food Fight: Does a Company's Political/Religious/Social Stance Affect Your Patronage?

As the nationwide brouhaha carries on between liberal city officials and conservative former presidential candidates over , many people in the Bay Area are making statements of their own about the fast food company's opposition to same-sex marriage.

The debate began in July when Dan Cathy, president of Georgia-based Chick-fil-A restaurants, said in two separate media interviews that the company backed the "biblical definition of a family."

The outcry on both sides of the issue prompted tit-for-tat events: earlier this week, thousands of customers showed up in support of the restaurant during an "Appreciation Day," while gay rights activists in the Bay Area planned same-sex "Kiss Ins" at Chick-fil-A restaurants on Friday.

In the Bay Area, there is one Chick-fil-A located in Fairfield, and several are slated for openings in the near future--Walnut Creek, Mountain View and San Jose.

According to Bay City News, the San Jose Chick-fil-A location is opening on Aug. 16, and same-sex marriage supporters were organizing a protest at the restaurant at 53 Headquarters Drive on Friday afternoon. The organizer's Facebook page directs participants to "wear purple, bring signs or flags to express your support of marriage equality, and come ready to march."

A New York Times column earlier this week reported that San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee used Twitter to tell Chick-fil-A to back off. “Very disappointed #ChickFilA doesn’t share San Francisco’s values,” wrote Lee. But in a follow-up tweet, Lee acknowledged that the restaurant wasn't exactly located around the block: “Closest #ChickFilA to San Francisco is 40 miles away & I strongly recommend that they not try to come any closer.”

In a statement on Chick-fil-A's website, the company addresses the upcoming protests and backlash to its stance on same-sex marriage:

"The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our Restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect –regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender. We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena."

Would you patronize a business that didn't share your values? Take our poll and give us your thoughts in the comment section below.