Herman Cain, the onetime GOP presidential frontrunner, weighed into the Chick-fil-A controversy during an appearance on Fox News on Friday and insisted that gay people are protesting the company’s opposition to equality for attention.

“This is simply an attempt on the part of the gay community to try and leverage their beliefs on another institution, a private company, since they can’t seem to get enough attention. That is what this is all about,” Cain told host Eric Bolling. Watch it:

Cain, who claimed that he spoke with Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy, said that the company’s sales exceeded $30 million during Wednesday’s “appreciation day,” “almost twice his previous high.” “They are going do take a lot of the excess profits they got on that day and contribute it to the charitable organizations they support in even bigger numbers,” Cain added.

The fast food chain has already donated millions of dollars to anti-gay organizations, including “reparative therapy” groups like Exodus International. Chick-fil-A is one of a very small number of major national companies that refuses to offer any employment protections to LGBT employees. In fact, the company received a 0 rating from the Human Rights Campaign and has a record of firing employees it believes engage in “sinful” behavior. Activists from across the country are protesting the company after its president condemned homosexuality in a recent radio interview.

On Thursday, Cain appeared on Fox News and praised Cathy for being “man enough and Christian enough” to oppose same-sex marriage.

Boeing at the Seattle Pride Parade (credit: Michael Hanscom)

Last month, ThinkProgress identified seven U.S. Representatives — all Republicans — who have sponsored or co-sponsored the most anti-LGBT measures in the current Congress.

Reps. Todd Akin (R-MO), Dan Burton (R-IN), Phil Gingrey (R-GA), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), and Donald Manzullo (R-IL) have received a combined $664,894 from ten business PACs — five from otherwise strongly pro-LGBT companies and five from trade associations — since the start of the 2009-2010 campaign cycle.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) publishes an annual Corporate Equality Index, examining how businesses treat gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees. The companies connected to the five business PACs all earned high marks in the 2012 report: Northrop Grumman Corporation earned a 75 score (out of 100), Honeywell International and The Boeing Company each earned 85 scores, and AT&T Inc. and Lockheed Martin Corporation garnered perfect 100 ratings.

While HRC does not evaluate trade associations, the American Bankers Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists, and National Association of Realtors all have non-discrimination policies for LGBT employees. Read more

A new study from Community Marketing, Inc. provides insights about how gay men and lesbians spend their money and live their lives.While the survey is geared toward branding and advertising data, the results also have important implications for the health of the LGBT community as well as for understanding how the community’s culture continues to evolve. Here are some of the findings (Note: Though the study included people who identify as bisexual and transgender, the reported data focused almost exclusively on gay man and lesbians, which perhaps is itself an interesting insight into expectations for LGBT marketing.):

• Gay men and lesbians have gym memberships (38 percent) at higher rates than the national average (24 percent).
• Gay men (27 percent) and lesbians (23 percent) smoke cigarettes at higher rates than the national averages for adult men (22 percent) and women (17 percent).
• Gay men, especially those ages 18-29, are much more likely to drink spirits or cocktails than beer, though beer is twice as popular on average nationally among men.
• The acronym “LGBT” is increasingly more popular than “GLBT,” though gay men prefer to be branded under the less-inclusive “Gay & Lesbian” umbrella.
• JCPenney’s partnership with Ellen DeGeneres had a huge impact on improving the company’s favorability among gay mean and lesbians.
• President Obama has strong support from gay men (77 percent) and lesbians (84 percent), including 79 percent of LGBT people in Ohio and 78 percent in Florida.

Read the full study for additional details, such as how gay men and lesbians use technology, respond to branding, and participate in giving to LGBT advocacy organizations.

Gov. Phil Bryant with his wife, Deborah, and the Bible on which he was sworn into office.

Last week, a black couple was told that they could not hold their wedding at the predominantly white Baptist church they attend in Mississippi, a sad reminder that “religious freedom” can just as easily be used to discriminate based on race as it can sexual orientation — at least within the church’s walls. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) responded that the incident was “unfortunate” and has “tainted” Mississippi’s image, in spite of their efforts “to convince the rest of the world that Mississippi has changed.” Bryant said he believes that all couples who want to marry should be able to — except gay couples, because he doesn’t even consider them couples:

BRYANT: Look, when people want to get married, we ought to let them get married. We have enough people that won’t go and get married. I want to make every opportunity I can for any couple that wants to, to go get married.

…I wouldn’t say gay couples, no. I’d say a man and a woman. Let me make sure, let’s get that right. When I say couples, I automatically assume it’s a man and a woman.

If Bryant is so concerned about the reputation of his state, perhaps he should become more familiar with it. According to the 2010 Census, Mississippi has well over 3,000 same-sex couples living there, constituting 3 out of every 1,000 households. A quarter of them (26 percent) are raising children. The numbers may be small, but they are not trivial. It’s clear that Bryant wants people to perceive his state as inclusive of some, but not inclusive of all.

Washington state has finalized the language for Referendum 74, a vote to approve the state’s new marriage equality law. The wording remains incredibly straight forward, without any of conservatives’ “redefine marriage” rehtoric:

Ballot Title
The legislature passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6239 concerning marriage for same-sex couples, modified domestic-partnership law, and religious freedom, and voters have filed a sufficient referendum petition on this bill.

This bill would allow same-sex couples to marry, preserve domestic partnerships only for seniors, and preserve the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform, recognize, or accommodate any marriage ceremony.

Should this bill be:

Approved [ ]

Rejected [ ]

Ballot Measure Summary
This bill allows same-sex couples to marry, applies marriage laws without regard to gender, and specifies that laws using gender-specific terms like husband and wife include same-sex spouses. After 2014, existing domestic partnerships are converted to marriages, except for seniors. It preserves the right of clergy or religious organizations to refuse to perform or recognize any marriage or accommodate wedding ceremonies. The bill does not affect licensing of religious organizations providing adoption, foster-care, or child-placement.

The refreshing simplicity of this description is a reminder of how those opposed to marriage equality have distorted the “religious freedom” argument. This law protects religious freedom by not imposing same-sex marriage on any religious organization. No doubt, opponents will still argue that they should not have to recognize same-sex marriages in any aspect of society, an abuse of religious freedom and open intention to violate the law.