Virat Kohli’s Restaurant Chain ‘One8 Commune’ faces allegations from LGBTQIA+ Group

Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli’s restaurant chain, One8 Commune, has faced backlash from an LGBTQIA+ activism group called ‘Yes, We Exist’. The group alleged that the Pune branch of the restaurant showed discrimination against the community.

The activist group termed the restaurant’s discriminatory policy towards the community “unacceptable”. It also said that the other branches of Kohli’s restaurant chain practises the same. The group also asked them to make amendments in their rules and policies.

“@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. @deepigoyal @zomato – either do a better job at sensitising restaurants or stop providing your platform to businesses that discriminate,” the group wrote on Instagram.

“Often it’s the high-end restaurants that practise such discriminatory policies; the ones that you most likely get large sums of ad money from. This needs to end,” it added.

Here’s the post against Virat Kohli

 

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A post shared by Yes, We Exist (@yesweexistindia)

As per reports in Indian Express, the Pune branch didn’t allow entry to gay couples or a gay group of men. It only let in ‘cisgender heterosexual couples or groups of cisgender women’.

In the meantime, the restaurant has rubbished all the claims, mentioning that it has restrictions on only ‘stag entry’, which means ‘individual boys are not allowed’.

“We don’t do any discrimination on the basis of gender. We have restriction on stag entry which means individual boys are not allowed within the premises. This is only for the safety of the ladies present in the premises,” Amit Joshi, Pune branch, One8 Commune, told.

After all the chaos, One8 Commune took to their Instagram story. and put forth a clarification on the entire development. They said that they have always been inclusive in serving all communities since they opened.

As far as Kohli is concerned, he recently returned from playing in the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Although India won three games in a row, they failed to qualify for the Super 12 of the tournament. Kohli’s men started with losses at the hands of Pakistan and New Zealand.