A SENIOR FIGURE from Indonesia’s second largest Muslim organisation Muhammadiyah has called for citizens to boycott Starbucks over the fact that its CEO Howard Schultz supports marriage equality and the LGBT community.
Anwar Abbas, who also heads up the quasi-governmental Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) responsible for Halal certification in the country, suggested on Thursday that it was time for Indonesia’s government to consider revoking the operating licence of Starbucks over the CEO’s views on LGBT issues.
Anwar released a statement in which he declared “We as a nation clearly do not want our attitudes and character as a religious and cultured nation broken and messed up by their presence [in Indonesia],” reported Republika.
SEE ALSO: Why are LGBT Indonesians under siege?
The comments drew widespread calls on social media to boycott Starbucks, with many rallying against a supposed Rezim Islamophobia or “Islamophobia regime” via the company’s pro-equality stance. Sbux, LGBT and #BoikotStarbucks were all trending on Twitter in Indonesia on Friday.
Starbucks Indonesia was targeted by Islamic State-affiliated terrorists in January 2016 who struck one of its stores in central Jakarta, leading to the temporary closure of all outlets in the capital.
Starbucks, along with many US-based multinationals including Microsoft, Google, McDonald’s and ironically, Twitter, has publicly supported marriage equality.
The American company entered the Indonesian market in 2002 and as of the third quarter of 2016, Starbucks operated 260 stores across Indonesia, compared to 293 in the Philippines and 226 in Malaysia.
After the US Supreme Court ruled in support of marriage equality in June 2015, Starbucks released a statement which said “Being open, inclusive and forward-thinking is at the core of what Starbucks is about. Starbucks has been a longtime advocate for the LGBT community and marriage equality.”
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