Protesters Descend on Kentucky McDonald's

The group was responding to an alleged incident on July 26 in which two men -- Ryan Marlatt and Teddy Eggers -- and three other friends were waiting for their food at McDonald's when they claim employees referred to them as "faggots."

A McDonald's restaurant in Louisville, Ky., at which gay customers were harassed and insulted for their orientation was visited by dozens of protesters on Friday.

Carrying signs saying "Homophobia Served Here" and "NOT Lovin' It," the protesters called for McDonald's to treat all customers fairly. The group was responding to an alleged incident on July 26 in which two men -- Ryan Marlatt and Teddy Eggers -- and three other friends were waiting for their food at McDonald's when they claim employees referred to them as "faggots." Marlatt and Eggers asked for the cost of their meals to be refunded by a manager, but the men say the manager refused. Following the incident, Marlatt and Eggers said they tried unsuccessfully to contact the restaurant's general manager and the McDonald's corporate office in Illinois.

"For any business to treat its gay customers this way is beyond the pale," said Becca O'Neill, one of the organizers of the protest, in a release. "All we want is for all customers, gay and straight, to be treated with decency and respect. Nobody should fork over their hard-earned money for a meal and be treated this way."

Marlatt and Eggers traveled from their home from Indianapolis to join the demonstration. "We are very moved by all of your support today," Eggers told the crowd. "When my friends and I were here at this McDonald's in July, we experienced the worst sort of verbal abuse and hostility. Today we're seeing a much better side of Louisville -- a side that won't stand for hate and discrimination."

This is the second piece of gay-related bad PR for the fast-food chain recently. According to the virulently antigay American Family Association, McDonald's caved into its demand that a company executive resign from a gay and lesbian business organization. (Neal Broverman, The Advocate)

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Name: Tony
Date posted: 10/13/2008 2:20:00 PM
Hometown: Covina, CA

Comment:
I just sent an email to McDonald's corporate headquarters to compain about this situation, and suggest the everyone who reads this do the same. You would be amazed how fast corporations react to only a few letters or emails.
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Name: Daniel
Date posted: 10/13/2008 7:09:00 AM
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale

Comment:
The original situation itself is wrong, but understandable: young people, some still in high school, saying hateful things about people they know nothing about. What gets me about this is that management and Corporate refused not only to make a bare bones apology about what happened (with the perfunctory 'We will be re-examining our training policies and reinforce diversity training, etc. that typically comes from an HR spokesperson), they refused to even acknowledge what happened. This goes to show that some large companies don't give a damn about treating their employees with respect, they only put us in their antiharassment policy as employees so we presume they are gay friendly. Shame on them for promoting hate and violence against gay people by refusing to take action.
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Name: Michael
Date posted: 10/12/2008 12:40:00 PM
Hometown: Nebraska

Comment:
I work in a small town in Nebraska and, completely, find that standing up, taking a side, and saying something works best. For the goofball with the derogatory remark about gays eating at McDonalds is "a real crime", thank you for your post. It encourages me to keep pressing forward, to continue to voice who I am and how I and all of the gay and lesbian community contribute to this world in a positive way. If we don't say something, if we don't respond to people who feel compelled to voice their ugly thoughts, then we're going to let the status quo continue. To those of you who went to Kentucky, BRAVO!
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Name: bona
Date posted: 10/12/2008 7:29:00 AM
Hometown: ny

Comment:
Since when gays eat at McDonald's ? For me that's the real crime.
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Name: Mark
Date posted: 10/10/2008 8:32:00 PM
Hometown: Woombye, Queensland

Comment:
I posted on the previous article. Whilst I don't think boycotting is the right way to achieve anything, by AFA claiming McDonald's caved in to its demand, then I believe it's time the gay community respond in kind.

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