Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is appealing to supporters to get behind Chick-fil-A as the company takes a stand against same-sex marriage.
Huckabee, a 2008 presidential candidate with strong ties to social conservatives, is organizing an Appreciation Day for Chick-fil-A.
"Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse," the Republican wrote on his Facebook page.
Huckabee said he already has more than 39,000 people who have confirmed they'll show up on Aug. 1 and eat at a Chick-fil-A restaurant.
Gay rights advocates were surprised last week to find that the Atlanta-based chain has taken a public stance against same-sex marriage. Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, said his company is "guilty as charged" when it comes to supporting what he considers the biblical definition of the family.
Huckabee, who hosts his own Fox News show, said on Facebook that the Cathy family is "being smeared by vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry from the left."
