Virat Kohli lands in trouble after his restaurant accused of discrimination against LGBTQIA community – WION
Virat Kohli’s woes don’t seem to be ending anytime soon as the Indian cricket team’s ODI and Test captain has landed in a soup after his team’s disappointing campaign in the just-concluded T20 World Cup 2021. Kohli’s restaurant has been accused of discriminating against the LGBTQIA community on social media.
Kohli owns a restaurant chain called One8 Commune which has branches across some of the major cities in India. The Pune branch of Kohli’s restaurant chain has stirred up a fresh controversy after being bashed by an advocacy group for unfair treatment against the LGBTQIA community.
Advocacy group ‘Yes, We exist’ took to social media to allege that One8 Commune’s Pune branch confirmed that they do not allow entry for those from the LGBTQIA community. The group further stated that the restaurant’s listing on Zomato says ‘stags are not allowed’.
“We DM’ed (direct messaged) them 2 weeks ago, got no response. We called the Pune branch, they confirmed that entry is allowed only for cisgender heterosexual couples or groups of cisgender woman; gay couples or a group of gay men are not allowed; trans women allowed subject to their clothing,” the group ‘Yes, We exist’ wrote in a post on Instagram.
The group further wrote that the Kolkata branch of Kohli’s restaurant said ‘stags are allowed’, however, alleged that their Zomato booking page said otherwise.
“@virat.kohli you are probably not aware of this, but your restaurant @one8.commune in Pune discriminates against LGBTQIA+ guests. The other branches too have a similar policy. This is unexpected and unacceptable. Hope you make necessary changes asap,” the group captioned the post, urging Kohli to take cognisance of the matter.
Kohli recently returned home after Team India’s poor campaign at the T20 World Cup 2021 and is currently on a break. India failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the showpiece event and bowed out of the tournament from the group stages.
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Responding to the allegations levelled against them, One8 Commune released a statement stating they have been ‘welcoming all people irrespective of their gender and/or preferences’.
“As our name denotes, we have always been inclusive in serving all communities since our inception. Similar to industry-wide practice and in conformity with government rules, we obviously have a prohibition of stag entry policy (subject to relaxation) in place so as to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for our guests,” read One8’s statement.