In recent weeks, as a wave of business executives and corporations have signaled support for legalizing same-sex marriage, groups that oppose gay marriage have launched boycott campaigns and have written letters urging corporations to remain “neutral” on the issue. But this week when the president of Chick-fil-A came out against same-sex marriage, the National Organization for Marriage praised him as a “corporate hero for marriage.”

The National Organization for Marriage is one of the advocacy groups leading the charge against legalizing same-sex marriage — and the push for corporate neutrality.

In a Monday interview with the Baptist Press, Dan Cathy, Chick-fil-A’s president and chief executive, said “guilty as charged,” when asked about “the company’s support of the traditional family.”

Cathy had also noted his opposition to same-sex marriage and its advocates in a recent radio interview. “I pray God’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about,” he said.

The company has long been under fire from gay rights advocates for its history of giving to groups that advocate against gay rights. Officials at the fast food chain have mostly remained silent on the issue although longtime company observers say Cathy’s recent public statements come as no surprise.

On Thursday, the National Organization for Marriage celebrated Cathy’s statements. The NOM blog carried a link to the Baptist Press article, with the headline “President of Chick-Fil-A Proud to Stand for Biblical and Family Values” and the line “The Baptist Press profiles a corporate hero for marriage.”

In 2011, NOM launched its Corporate Fairness Project, a program designed to push for corporate neutrality. According to its head, Jonathan Baker, it was created because “an increasing number of advocates of same-sex marriage were requesting corporations take a stand.”