WASHINGTON — Three McDonald’s restaurants along the route of the Capital Pride Parade, an event expressing pride in the sin of homosexuality, will use rainbow french fry boxes to correlate with the event.
“The rainbow fry boxes are a fun way to show our support of the LGBTQ community using one of McDonald’s most iconic and recognizable items,” Cathy Martin, co-chair of the McDonald’s PRIDE Network and vice president of McDonald’s Baltimore Washington Region, said in a statement.
“However, these fry boxes are ‘small potatoes’ in the grand scheme of our commitment to this community,” she stated. “We are proud to honor and celebrate the LGBTQ community, including our employees, customers and beyond, each and every day.”
According to reports, McDonald’s has long been a proponent of homosexual causes, as it added “sexual orientation” to its nondiscrimination policy in 1999, made domestic partners of homosexual employees eligible for benefits in 2004 and founded the PRIDE network in 2005.
Other sponsors of the event include Marriott International, Capital One, UPS, Geico, Red Bull, AT&T, Wells Fargo, State Farm, Starbucks, IKEA, Coldwell Banker, Coca-Cola, American Airlines, GAP, Heineken, Kaiser Permanente, and Citibank.
Public reaction to the rainbow fry box announcement has been mixed, with some applauding McDonald’s for being inclusive and others opining that the company should stick to selling burgers and fries.
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