NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–A McDonald’s senior vice president has verified two key issues regarding the restaurant chain’s support of the homosexual agenda, the American Family Association stated May 14.
Baptist Press contacted McDonald’s corporate headquarters near Chicago to confirm the AFA Action Alert but had not received a response by press time May 16.
Don Wildmon, AFA founder and chairman, described McDonald’s as “still trying to distort their support for the homosexual agenda by twisting words.”
“While McDonald’s says it is not a member of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the NGLCC website proudly lists them as a ‘Corporate Partner and Organizational Ally,'” Wildmon wrote.
The alert went on to state that Jack Daly, the McDonald’s senior vice president, confirmed to AFA in a May 2 telephone call that McDonald’s gave $20,000 to the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. The organization aggressively promotes the homosexual agenda in the business/corporate world.
“In addition, Daly told AFA that Richard Ellis, vice president of communications for McDonald’s, is a ‘gay man’ and personally approved the $20,000 donation to the NGLCC,” Wildmon noted in his May 14 alert.
“Mr. Daly also claimed that Richard Ellis was elected to the NGLCC board as a private citizen and not a representative of McDonald’s. Yet, Richard Ellis is listed on the NGLCC website as vice president of communications, McDonald’s USA,” Wildmon added.
Wildmon also included in the Action Alert a link to a McDonald’s television commercial touting the company’s sponsorship of last year’s San Francisco Gay Pride Parade.
The ad, narrated by a man identified as “a McDonald’s administrative manager,” shows clips of homosexuals protesting, and other scenes appear to be footage from previous “gay pride” parades.
“Gay pride month commemorates the June 1969 rebellion of a courageous group of gay, lesbian and transgendered people who took action during a raid on New York City’s Stonewall Inn,” the McDonald’s representative says in the commercial.
“Since 1970, San Francisco has celebrated gay pride, and its annual parade is one of the best-known pride events anywhere in the world.
“McDonald’s is proud of our commitment to a diverse workforce and of our recognition by the Human Rights Campaign [political/lobbying organization] as a company that actively demonstrates its commitment to the gay and lesbian community,” the representative says.
Pro-family concerns about McDonald’s involvement in promoting the homosexual lifestyle surfaced in March when Ellis was elected to the nine-member board of directors.
“I’m thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work,” Ellis said at the time. “I share the NGLCC’s passion for business growth and development within the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] community and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward.”
Also on the board are Walter Schubert, identified as “the first openly gay member of the New York Stock Exchange,” and Donna Rose, described as a transgender activist, among others.
The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, according to its website, “represents the interests of the estimated 1.4 million LGBT owned businesses in the United States. Through its affiliated network of 45 state and local chambers and business organizations, the NGLCC is the largest LGBT business development and economic advocacy organization in the country.”
The website also makes clear that the chamber lobbies Congress on a wide range of issues related to the homosexual agenda.
Wildmon told Baptist Press in April that a boycott of McDonald’s “is always a possibility” if the company does not heed complaints from concerned patrons. Also in March, AFA announced the end of a two-year boycott of Ford Motor Company during which Ford’s North American sales declined an average of 8 percent per month. That boycott pertained to Ford’s promotion of the homosexual agenda.
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Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.
