Boycott over McDonald's 'gay' promotions grows

Your dollars for Happy Meals and Big Macs could end up paying for sex-change operations of McDonald's employees if the home of the Golden Arches continues its promotion of homosexuality, according to a pro-family group that has joined an expanding boycott of the fast-food restaurants and its Ronald McDonald's mascot.

"If McDonald's restaurants and franchises … follow the small business advice of the company's new homosexual partner – the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), which received a $20,000 grant from McDonald's – there would be chaos," said Peter LaBarbera, chief of Americans for Truth.

Protesters gather at a McDonald's near the corporate headquarters in Chicago to join in a boycott of the chain for its promotion of homosexuality

His was one of several groups, also including the Culture Campaign, Liberty Counsel, the American Family Association of Pennsylvania and the Illinois Family Institute, that held a news conference at the Chicago headquarters of the fast-food chain to join with a boycott call issued originally by the American Family Association.

LaBarbera told WND that the agenda supported by the NGLCC is pretty extreme. It recommends, for example, companies should "permit the [transsexual/cross-dressing] transitioning employee to use restrooms that correspond to his or her full-time gender presentation, regardless of where the individual is in the transitioning process."

Following a link from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce's website leads to a promotional for children's Happy Meals at the McDonalds website

"In other words, if a 'transgender man' or, say, employee at a McDonald's believes his supposed 'gender' is really a woman, so he wears a dress and high heels, he should be able to use the female restroom. That surely would do wonders for the productivity and workplace environment of female employees and customers at a small business, including all those local McDonald's franchises!" LaBarbera said.

He said other advice from NGLCC would include:

Use politically correct, 'inclusive' language: 'Ensure that invitations to company events use terms like partner or significant other rather than spouse.'
Provide 'adoption assistance' for homosexual 'domestic partners' – thus the corporate world helps create households for children that are intentionally fatherless or motherless.
Providing health care coverage to transsexual employees for so-called 'medically necessary surgical procedures' – will your Quarter-Pounder purchase help subsidize 'sex-change' operations for gender-confused men?

The McDonald's logo is featured on the website of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, among other well-known companies

The news conference was at the McDonald's restaurant adjacent to McDonald's world headquarters, but LaBarbera said the Chicago media, with one exception, ignored the issue totally.

"Chicago's CBS TV affiliate fields a float every year at the city's bawdy homosexual 'pride' parade, but CBS and other major Chicago secular media were no-shows at AFTAH's pro-family coalition press conference," he said.

"Predictably, I suppose, we were completely blacked out by Chicago's and Illinos' major media – which had no excuse since they were inundated with press releases about the event by four pro-family organizations," LaBarbera said.

He said, however, people are paying attention, since some 200,000 people already have signed the boycott petition.

He noted McDonald's got an 85 percent rating by the Human Rights Campaign's pro-homosexual scorecard indicating both its advocacy for homosexuality as well as its failure to support pro-family organizations.

"McDonald's has wisely chosen to alter its menu to promote healthy eating habits. Now it needs to examine its fiscal priorities and stop rewarding unhealthy lifestyles –– starting with an end to corporate subsidies for homosexual and transsexual behavior," LaBarbera said. "Homosexuality is unhealthy, especially for men: 71 percent of male HIV cases in 2005 involved men who have sex with men, according to the CDC. And syphilis and other STDs continue to afflict men practicing homosexuality at rates astronomically disproportionate to the rest of society."

"Unfortunately, McDonalds has chosen to side with militant homosexual activists over people with traditional values," said Matt Barber, of Liberty Counsel. "The company has further escalated the controversy by lodging a personal attack against the tens of millions of Americans who support traditional sexual morality and legitimate marriage. While referring to Christians and other people with traditional values, McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman arrogantly told the Washington Post that, 'Hatred has no place in our culture,' thereby suggesting that people who support the historical definition of marriage are simply motivated by 'hate.' This insult is highly offensive, and anyone who supports traditional marriage should boycott McDonalds and tell the company why they’re doing so."

"McDonalds should focus on food quality and safety issues instead of attacking the values held by the majority of people worldwide. Marriage between a man and a woman is the norm throughout the world. McDonalds' personal attack against those who support the traditional definition of marriage, while siding with a narrow group that promotes a radical redefinition, shows that company executives are out to lunch. McDonalds might as well change their signs to read 'billions and billions insulted,'" said Mathew Staver, chief of Liberty Counsel.

"It's a shame that McDonald's would tarnish their family-friendly image," said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon. "But the company has ramped up its support of the gay agenda and it leaves us no option but to call for a boycott."

Wildmon wrote the company with a plea for McDonald's to remain neutral in the culture war by removing McDonald's name and logo from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) Web site (where McDonald’s is cited as a partner and ally) and withdraw McDonald's VP of Communications Richard Ellis' endorsement from the website. McDonald's ignored both requests.

"To put it politely, the company thumbed its nose at the Christian community," Wildmon said.

McDonald’s donated $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in exchange for membership and a seat on the group’s board of directors. The NGLCC lobbies Congress on a wide range of issues related to the "gay" agenda including "gay" marriage.

"This boycott isn't about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald's or how homosexual employees are treated. It is about McDonald's, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture war. The company has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage," the AFA said.

The pro-family groups are encouraging families to do two things: sign, print and distribute a Boycott McDonald's petition at www.boycottmcdonalds.com; and call the local McDonald's to politely tell the manager they are boycotting the chain until it stops promoting the "gay" agenda.

LaBarbera told WND neutrality is "the least that pro-family people should expect from a place like McDonald's."

McDonald's officials declined to return a WND call seeking comment on the placement of its executive on the "gay" advocacy organization. But the corporation sent a subsequent e-mail confirming its support for the agenda of the homosexual business lobby.

"McDonald's is indeed a Corporate Partner and Organizational Ally of NGLCC. Our vice president of U.S. communications, Richard Ellis, was recently elected to its board of directors," said the brief statement to WND from Heidi M. Barker, senior director of media relations.

A spokeswoman for NGLCC refused to speak with WND except on "background" when asked about McDonald's financial contribution to the group. But she did confirm the organization would not release information on its sponsors.