Georgian Dream vs Happy Meal: McDonald's accused of promoting LGBTQ+
McDonald’s accused of promoting LGBTQ+
Georgia’s ruling party has come out against McDonald’s, accusing the company of promoting LGBTQ+.
The Imedi TV company reports that mentions that a book was found in a Happy Meal set which talks about the British musician Elton John and mentions his marriage to David Furnish and their children.
This information was widely disseminated on all pro-government websites of Georgia, and members of the country’s leadership commented on it.
“The task of the enemies of Georgia, the participants in the conspiracy against Georgia today, is to create new centers of confrontation. It’s a shame if McDonald’s is included in this,” Gia Volsky, First Vice Speaker of the Parliament, say.
“Getting used to this topic from a young age is harmful for the future generation,” Georgian Dream Executive Secretary Mamuka Mdinaradze said:
“There is no need for a child to learn to defend LGBT rights at two, three, seven and ten years old, but this topic penetrates, and it’s disgusting … This will not work in this country: LGBT propaganda is impossible in this country, no one will be able to do it freely. Supporters of LGBT on the one hand, and we on the other. Georgia is on the other side. Any government in this country will have an obligation to separate the protection of rights from propaganda that harms our future generation.”
This topic was discussed at the founding meeting of the newly created pro-government public movement “Georgia First”. One representative of this organization, Dachi Tsaguria, turned to the owner of McDonald’s in Georgia, businessman Temur Chkonia:
“Temur, remove this abomination from the [McDonald’s] network, otherwise wherever you go, your Coca-Cola will be poured over your head. We don’t care how an adult wants to live, it’s none of our business. But leave our children alone.”
● Relations between McDonald’s and the Georgian government have long been tense. Temur Chkhonia, who owns McDonald’s and Coca-Cola in Georgia, has been openly criticizing the government for its pro-Russian orientation and economic policy for many years, demanding that the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, be taken abroad for treatment, Chkhonia is also one of the main advertising clients of opposition channels.
● In the spring, authorities accused McDonald’s of deliberate misinformation after the restaurant posted banners in the city that read: “Today more than 235,000 families with children live in poverty in Georgia.” After the scandal, the company removed the banners.
● Recently, the topic of LGBTQ+ has been increasingly popping up in the statements of Georgian officials. On May 4, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili addressed a conference of American ultraconservatives in Budapest. In his speech, he said that the hostile forces in Georgia are “trying to destroy family values” and that the conservative majority must be protected from the “violence of the minority.”
Also, a new pro-government social movement, the conservative association Georgia First, plans to collect signatures across the country to hold a plebiscite on a ban on LGBTQ+ propaganda among minors.
McDonald’s accused of promoting LGBTQ+
