Christian group ends McDonald's boycott

CHICAGO, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The American Family Association has ended its boycott of McDonald's Corp., after an official of the Illinois company resigned from a gay and lesbian group.

McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman said the five-month boycott by the Christian values group ended after a McDonald's executive resigned from a National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce board, The Chicago Tribune said Friday.

Whitman said former McDonald's vice president of U.S. communications Richard Ellis resigned from the U.S. gay and lesbian group after accepting an executive position with McDonald's Canadian operation.

Jack Daly, global chief communications officer for the Oak Brook. Ill., company, said there are no plans to replace Ellis on the chamber's board.

"We don't have a slot on the board to fill," Daly told the Tribune. "Richard's decision to be a member of the board was a personal decision, not a company decision."

American Family Association told the newspaper that McDonald's, who donated $20,000 to sponsor a gala thrown by the gay and lesbian chamber, will not serve as a NGLCC sponsor next year.