HOBART | Lesbian couple Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney said their main beef isn't with Chick-fil-A.
The Munster couple, who have been fighting an area health club's opposition to granting them a family membership, decided to use the nationwide "kiss-in" protest as a format for their equality cause.
"When we heard about the Chick-fil-A protest situation, it reinvigorated our energy to keep fighting for equal rights," Sandler said.
She and her partner have been in an 11-year civil union and are raising a daughter together.
"Of course we don't agree with the CEO's policy and wish he would revisit it," Sandler said.
The National Same Sex Kiss Day was held Friday at Chick-fil-A stores throughout the country to protest the fast-food chain president's opposition to same-sex marriage.
The Munster women, both raising pink and green equality signs, asked those entering the restaurant and driving by to sign their petition.
Rich Castle, of Portage, who stood just a few feet away from the two women, lofted a sign in support of an opposing view.
His sign, which read, "Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve," drew honks and cheers from motorists passing by.
Castle said he came to the restaurant on U.S. 30 in support of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy, who said he supported "the biblical definition of the family unit" and that Americans are "inviting God’s judgment" by allowing same-sex marriage.
"He (Cathy) has First Amendment rights to disagree with political correctness. It's not a hate crime, just a disagreement," Castle said.
Castle said he and his family also showed support by eating at the restaurant Wednesday, which was Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day.
"The silent majority isn't so silent," Castle said.
Tyler Carter, the owner and operator of the Hobart Chick-fil-A, said his restaurant had a record number of customers Wednesday, topping the opening day turnout.
Carter, who came out of the restaurant to ask the protesters if they needed anything, said there had been no other incidents of protests Friday.
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