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by GoPride.com News Staff

Chicago, IL — Hamburger Mary's joined the increasing number of campaigns to counter Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy's controversial public stance against marriage equality by offering a southern-style chicken sandwich while advocating diversity.

The popular and LGBT-friendly chain of hamburger eateries that serve burgers with a "side of sass" spotlighted their new hamburger of the month on August 1, this time as a "hate-free" southern-style chicken sandwich.

ChicagoPride.com's Jerry Nunn visited the Andersonville location Wednesday, the day of the debut, to sample the meal and see how busy things were at the restaurant. An informal survey of customers showed the meal was quite the hit with almost every table ordering Mary's "hate-free" southern-style chicken sandwich.

Twin brothers Ashley & Brandon Wright are the owners of the Chicago and Milwaukee Hamburger Mary's franchises, as well as part-owners of the brand nationally. Originally from Atlanta, the Wright brothers have enjoyed plenty of Chick-fil-A sandwiches over the years. "I've always thought they had a great sandwich," says Brandon.

But the current controversy prompted the brothers, and many of their friends, to seek alternatives. Ashley and Brandon are both gay, and Hamburger Mary's is the only national franchise system that caters to the gay & lesbian community. "We wanted to create our own southern-style chicken sandwich, made from free-range and 'hate-free' chickens," said Ashley. "We've developed a recipe that is pretty darn good, and this is the perfect opportunity to launch it."

Hamburger Mary's "hate-free" southern-style chicken sandwich - an easy delicious champion to combat Chick-fil-A's similar offering - starts with a fresh chicken breast, marinated and battered with Mary's secret recipe flour and spice mixture. It's then deep-fried and served with herb mayo and dill pickles on a bakery fresh bun from Chicago's Highland Bakery.

While several other restaurants donated money to Equality Illinois in food sales Wednesday, Mary's pledged to give a dollar from each "hate-free" sandwich the entire month of August with fifty cents from the cost of the waffle fries thrown in as well.

Manager Brett Scappucci told ChicagoPride.com that the feedback has been extremely supportive minus some hate mail from the website.

"It was expected," Scappucci said of the email. "But the response at the restaurant level has been very positive."

Mary's is hoping that the August "burger"-of-the-month will bring a positive spin to the controversy over Dan Cathy's comments, and let people know that a "hate-free" chicken sandwich option is out there.

The original Hamburger Mary's was the brainchild of a small group of hippies living in San Francisco in the early 70's. It was founded as "an open-air bar & grille for open-minded people." Today there are 12 locations nationwide. 

Hamburger Mary's Chicago is located at 5400 N Clark in Andersonville.

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