The controversy surrounding Chick fil-A and its leadership’s stance on same-sex marriage will likely not die down anytime soon, especially now that the Internet has the actual letter sent by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to the eatery’s president Dan Cathy.

Menino came out against Chick fil-A publicly last week, on the same day that the Jim Henson Company announced it was severing ties with the chain. But a copy of the letter [via BusinessInsider] is just now becoming public.

The image is below, but for those who are not fans of blurry scans, here is the text:

To Mr. Cathy:
In recent days you said Chick fil-A opposes same-sex marriage and said the generation that supports it as an “arrogant attitude.”

Now — incredibly — your 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.

You called supporters of gay marriage “prideful.” Here in Boston, to borrow your own words, we are “guilty as charged.” We are indeed full of pride for our support of same sex marriage and our work to expand freedom to all people. We are proud that our state and our city have led the way for the country on equal marriage rights.

I was angry to learn on the heels of your prejudiced statements about your search for a site to locate in Boston. There is no place for discrimination on Boston’s Freedom Trail and no place for your company alongside it. When Massachusetts became the first state in the country to recognize equal marriage rights, I personally stood on City Hall Plaza to greet same sex couples here to be married. 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.

Sincerely,
Thomas M. Menino

In other Chick fil-A related news, the company has been accused by some on the Internet of creating fake Facebook “fans” to defend the chain in the comments. We’re writing to Chick fil-A now to see if it has official comment on these allegations.

UPDATE: Chick fil-A says it has nothing to do with the bogus Facebook account.

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