"The Big Mac attack on family values is finally over," exclaimed Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, to supporters Friday. "After a five-month boycott, Americans finally got what they ordered - McDonald's agreement to stop financing the homosexual agenda."
In late March, McDonald's sparked controversy after the company's vice president of communications joined the board of directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) - an organisation "dedicated to expanding the economic opportunities and advancements of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender/Transsexual (LGBT) business community."
The American Family Association, in response, said that the move - combined with a $20,000 donation McDonald's handed over to the NGLCC and the fast-food chain's frequent and boastful support in sponsoring gay pride parades - was detrimental to pro-family causes and the sanctity of marriage. The AFA requested McDonald's to remove its name and logo from the NGLCC website and drop the vice president of communications' endorsement of the organisation.
When McDonald's rebuffed the requests, AFA began asking its two million supporters to boycott the popular fast-food chain.
"[T]he company has ramped up its support of the gay agenda and it leaves us no option but to call for a boycott," said AFA Chairman Don Wildmon in a statement earlier this summer.
Whilst some criticised AFA's efforts, accusing them of being "haters", the pro-family group emphasised that the boycott was not about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald's, or how homosexual employees are treated.
"Our concern was: Here is a family-friendly company that has, all of a sudden, joined hands and became a partner and ally with an organisation that is absolutely attacking the moral foundation of our nation; trying to redefine marriage in our nation," recalled Buddy Smith, executive assistant to AFA's chairman.
