Comments on: McDonald’s accused of firing HIV+ man

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 12:20:35 +0000

I am kind of like this guy. I am gay and whenever I am on register these guys always come up and say that they never want to be served by a faggot. Whenever they come in my managers don’t do anything about it because they say that the customers are always right. This is not right and something should be done about this.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:54:55 +0000

I’m sure the franchise owners will be asked to sell/close down there store. McD’s has very strict rules about that kinda stuff.

By: Robb C

Robb C — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:00:57 +0000

Vanndean,
It doesn’t matter if it happened in a francise store or not. No employer should allow this to happen, nor should they tolerate any form of discrimination in the workplace. Sure the McDonalds company may not allow for discrimination in the workplace, but they also must realize that this happening in the workplace causes bad press for McDonalds as a whole. Let alone it is just wrong. If I was at McDonalds HQ, my legal department would be putting pressure on this francise so fast it wouldn’t be funny, and we would expect the managers to be fired for creating such bad press.

By: lion432

lion432 — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:35:18 +0000

As a gay Iowa resident, your comment only has parcial truth to it. I have been out for over 14 years and have never had a bad thing happen to me in comparison to what I hear happens in states with larger communities. When my partner or myself are in the hospital, we have never been kept in the dark concerning each others conditions or status’. Having lived in Iowa all my life, I have no problem being a gay man here or being open about it. Many cities in Iowa have anti discrimination laws preventing what has happened to Carver and we are currently in the battle for gay marrage just like every other state. Your assumptions about Iowa are incorrect and close minded. I would happily debate this issue anytime in regards to Iowa, since my experence is a little more real life then your occasional trips to our state.

By: vanndean

vanndean — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:12:52 +0000

Cory Lynxx, please note that this story occurred in a franchise store and not in a corporate location. Franchise stores are owned by individuals and they do not necessarily follow all the rules that corporate managers are required to follow. The problem with your solution is that you are placing blame not where it needs to be but on the corporation itself.

By: Corey Lynxx

Corey Lynxx — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:29:33 +0000

There are 2 hate crimes in this case. Both the manager that punched him in the stomach and the employee that slapped him should be charged with hate crimes and sent to prison. Their faces also need to be shown on the news to add to the humiliation and send a clear message to America that hate crimes are not going to be tolerated. I hope he sues Mcdonalds for all he can sue for. Discrimination in the workplace is totally uncalled for and must be stopped. He was called derogatory names and intimidated just like they do in the army. This is a corporation that claims to be gay friendly but obviously is not, this needs to be drilled in the ground. We need to organize a massive boycott of Mcdonalds for allowing this to happen to 1 of our gay brothers. How can you punch an HIV positive person like that, they are already struggling. You just don’t kick somebody while they are down, that’s low.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:23:54 +0000

I’m a manager at McDonald’s and I’ve never experienced anything but the utmost respect from my co-workers. Granted I work in a corporate-owned store so my experience may be different, but I’m completely open about my sexuality and everyone knows my boyfriend and have never made me feel awkward. Also, McDonald’s stood up in a sign of support for our community when they were threatened with a boycott earlier this year. As a corporation, McDonald’s is extremely queer-friendly. They offer domestic partnership benefits and provide sensitivity training to corporate-level staff. If something discriminatory or hateful is happening at a franchise, it needs to be reported. Thankfully this incident was.

By: Ed Gould

Ed Gould — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:17:05 +0000

It would not surprise me one bit if the story is true. I have had a couple of occasions to visit IOWA and to the least they are less than gay friendly. I suspect I have run into homophobic doctors at the University of IOWA, I can’t prove it of course but they have treated me with less than typical doctor “niceness”. I also know 2 people that live in IOWA and from they have related to me IOWA is a homophobic haven.
I am not saying all IOWANS are homophobic but the number is up there.

By: Guy in SF

Guy in SF — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:30:00 +0000

McDonald’s isn’t alone in discrimination. A Subway in St. Louis fired an employee because a customer recognized him from a gay porn movie and threatened to boycott Subway if he wasn’t fired. What was the RIGHTEOUS customer doing watching gay porn?

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8920.html

By: Antoyneo

Antoyneo — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:41:03 +0000

Personally I have worked for Mickey D’s and they are not as LGBTQ friendly as they make it seem. Especially the independently owned stores. They make you feel so uncomfortable that you just want to quit and thats exactly what happened to me. I’m a trans-male and it really bothered me that in such a big family company they have so much discrimination.