Angry mothers stormed a McDonald's restaurant in Budapest on Friday after a young mother was asked to leave the fast food eatery because she was breastfeeding.
In protest of the treatment of a fellow breastfeeding mother, dozens of mothers brought their babies to the restaurant, sat on the chairs, bared their breasts and started to nurse their children.
This happened two days after the young mother's account of being asked to leave McDonald's went viral on social media.
The woman wrote on Facebook that while she was waiting for her sister to arrive, her baby became thirsty because it was very hot outside. She went to the fast food branch near the Western Railway Station to find a quiet place to breastfeed. To make sure that she wouldn't be violating any rule, she asked a waitress if she could breastfeed her child, and the waitress assured her it would be fine. However, when she was already feeding her baby, a security guard told her to stop, informing her that what she was doing was not "acceptable activity" in the premises, according to BBC. The guard briefly left her and asked the manager about the situation, then he came back and again told her to stop.
The young Hungarian mom posted on Facebook, "I fed my baby at home before I set out, in order to avoid this, but it was 30C (86F) and my baby was very hot and thirsty."
She added, "I went into the restaurant at nine in the morning and looked around for a quiet spot where I wouldn't disturb anyone," BBC reports.
Her story went viral not just on Facebook but also on other social media, causing a short-notice protest against McDonald's to erupt on Friday. One of those who participated in the protest told BBC that in Hungary, few women breastfeed their babies in public because "they are afraid they will be harassed or treated disrespectfully."
McDonald's has released a statement that breastfeeding women are allowed in the restaurant as part of their family-friendly policy. Blaming the incident on the security guard, McDonald's said it is now investigating the matter.
The issue of breastfeeding in public has been the subject of many debates. Just recently, the cover photo of a magazine featuring a breastfeeding supermodel caught attention and earned mixed reactions.
There have also been increasing reports of breastfeeding women being unwelcome in many public places. On the same day the Hungarian mom was asked to stop feeding her child in McDonald's, another mom in Canada was asked to leave a pizza restaurant for the same reason. Brianna Donovan took to Facebook after an employee at Second Slice Pizza told her to get out when she was breastfeeding her 5-month-old baby. She was told police would be called if she didn't leave, even though breastfeeding in public is allowed in the Human Rights Code of British Columbia.
This resulted in mothers joining forces and marching to the pizza place to protest "breasts under arrest," CBC News reports.
"I'd like to stand up and let it be known to other people that it's not right to kick people out for breastfeeding their children," Donovan said.
The restaurant manager denied mistreating Donovan, saying that Donovan's group was asked to leave because they were loitering. "We never even talked to the mother directly," he said, according to CBS News.
