A group of California grassroots activists has withdrawn its picket from a Sacramento-area McDonald's after achieving what it says was helpful cooperation from a corporate official overseeing the store.
Spokesman Luke Otterstad says the protest of the retailer is important despite minimization of the effort in news coverage from a local TV station. Otterstad explains he and other supporters of SaveBiblicalMarriage.org picketed the fast-food outlet last week in order to increase the effectiveness of the recently initiated boycott against the hamburger chain for its membership in the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). "We want to make it clear to Christians that our goal isn't to punish McDonald's, but it's rather to see a redemptive goal of having McDonald's withdraw its membership in NGLCC and that they pledge to return to a neutral stance on homosexuality," Otterstad contends. The activist is convinced that those results, and participation in picket lines or boycotts, are necessary to show Christians how to voluntarily refuse to be part of something that's morally wrong – whether in the culture or in the business practices of a company that solicits public dollars for its endeavors. "By continuing to shop at McDonald's, we're cooperating with what they're supporting," Otterstad adds. "But if we withhold our dollars from them until they withhold their support for homosexuality, we're actually advocates for change in a positive way." Judging by a report on FOX TV station KTXL in Sacramento, it would appear most patrons felt they had no interest in those reasons or outcomes of a boycott – but apparently management felt differently. Otterstad says his group decided to stop the picketing ahead of schedule after a corporate official in charge of that store and five others in the region was willing to write a letter on their behalf to corporate and regional offices.
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