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by GoPride.com News Staff

Hollywood, CA — About 30 people gathered Saturday afternoon to protest the opening of the new Chick-fil-A Hollywood location citing what they call the restaurant chain's support of anti-gay policies.

The protestors say the Georgia-based fast food chain donates money to Focus on the Family and other Christian groups that vehemently oppose LGBT rights, including marriage equality. 

"It's about civil rights," Ken Howard, one of the organizers of Saturday's protest, told WestHollywoodPatch.com. "It's not anti-Christian. It's pro-civil rights and against hate groups."

The group protesting the new location at Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue held up picket signs and distributed fliers that read, "say no to homophobia."

The company's corporate mission is explicitly Christian. It includes a charge "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us."

Chick-fil-A's mix of Christian culture has attracted controversy before. In 2002 a lawsuit was filed by a Muslim restaurant owner in Houston who said he was fired because he did not pray to Jesus with other employees at a training session. 

Company spokeswoman Kim Hardcastle told Patch the chain does not discriminate against anyone. 

The chain, which has found success in rural areas, has recently been entering larger metropolitan cities including Los Angeles and Chicago. 

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