TORRENCE, Calif. — A Los Angeles-area Chick-fil-A was vandalized overnight with the message “Tastes like hate” scrawled in large black lettering on the wall of the restaurant, mimicking the chain’s advertising slogans.
Local gay artist Manny Castro stepped forward to claim responsibility for the graffiti, and told the Huffington Post on Friday that he was compelled to make a statement against Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s comments against marriage equality for gays and lesbians.
“Everybody is entitled to free speech, but it seems like for the gay tribe, this is more of an issue of equal rights — human rights,” explained Castro. “I’m against what these people stand for, what this company stands for. They’re trying to take away what little rights we already have.”
The vandalism appeared just two days following a Chick-fil-A “appreciation day” promoted by failed GOP presidential candidate and Fox News pundit Mike Huckabee — opponents of marriage equality turned out in droves nationwide to proudly support the anti-gay restaurant chain, giving the giving the 1,600-store chain a “record-setting day,” a spokesman said on Thursday.
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On Friday, marriage equality supporters are staging same-sex “held “kiss-ins” at Chick-fil-A restaurants across the United States to protest the fast-food chain president’s opposition to gay unions, and the chain’s millions of dollars in donations to anti-gay organizations.
Castro’s graffiti at the Torrence, Calif., Chick-fil-A was removed within hours of its discovery.
