Tim Thomas of the Boston Bruins has weighed in on another controversy, supporting American sandwich chain Chick-fil-A owner, Dan Cathy, who has given millions of dollars to organizations fighting same-sex marriage.
Cathy told an interviewer from a religious publication his company supported â┚¬Å”the biblical definition of the family unitâ┚¬Â which sparked a backlash.
Thomas wrote on his Facebook page: â┚¬Å”I stand with Chick-fil-A.â┚¬Â His name became a trending topic of Twitter.
Thomas, who has announced that he's taking next season off, made headlines in January when the goalie skipped the Stanley Cup champion's ceremonial visit to the White House.
Chick-fil-A has long said it operated on biblical principles and is well-known for staying closed on Sundays.
The goaltender isn’t the only prominent Thomas in Boston to have an opinion on Chick-fil-A. Boston’s mayor, Thomas Menino, recently condemned the chain and its efforts to open a location in Boston in a letter posted, as it happens, to Facebook.
“In recent days you said Chick-fil-A opposes same-sex marriage, and said the generation that supports it has an ‘arrogant attitude,'” Menino wrote in the letter, dated July 20 and addressed to Cathy at Chick-fil-A’s Atlanta headquarters.
“Nowâ┚¬â€Âincrediblyâ┚¬â€Âyour company says you are backing out of the same-sex marriage debate. I urge you to back out of your plans to locate in Boston.”
In response to rumors that Chick-fil-A was hoping to put up a location along historic Freedom Trail, Menino said, “It would be an insult to them and to our city’s long history of expanding freedom, to have a Chick-fil-A across the street from that spot.”
Neither the mayor nor the goaltender have addressed each other's statements publicly.
Thomas’ statement comes four months after Bruins’ captain Zdeno Chara recorded a PSA for the You Can Play project and five months after Shawn Thornton said he would support a gay teammate.
