ATLANTA (AP) — Chick-fil-A has set a one-day sales record amid an ongoing controversy over a company executive's public stance against same-sex marriage.

The Atlanta-based company confirmed in a statement Thursday that the sales record was broken Wednesday for "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day" after it was declared by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and Fox News talk-show host.

Chick-fil-A vice president Steve Robinson says the company won't release sales figures for Wednesday, when customers lined up outside restaurants and the Rev. Billy Graham, the 93-year-old evangelist, dined on a Chick-fil-A lunch.

Restaurant chain president Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press last month that the company was "guilty as charged" for backing "the biblical definition of a family." Gay rights activists and others answered with calls for boycotts. They plan a national "Kiss In" at Chick-fil-A restaurants on Friday to protest the owners' position.