LGBTQIA+ Group Alleges Virat Kohli’s Restaurant Doesn’t Allow Queer People; Accuse Them Of Homophobia

India captain Virat Kohli is also a restaurateur apart from his main job of playing cricket for India and in the Indian Premier League. He owns a successful hotel by the name of Nueva in New Delhi which is located in the RK Puram area. Another of his hotel in Pune, One8.commune has come under fire for accusations of homophobia.

An LGBTQ+ group YesWeExistIndia has accused Virat Kohli’s Pune restaurant of being biased against queer people and not allowing them on the premises. The group posted about the restaurant only allowing cisgender heterosexual couples or groups of cisgender women.

“NO ENTRY for LGBTQIA+ Guests at Kohli’s Restaurant Virat Kohli runs a chain of restaurants, called  One8 Commune, across Pune, Delhi & Kolkata. Their Zomato listings say, “Stags are not allowed”. We DM’ed 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 women; gay couples or a group of gay men not allowed; trans women are allowed subject to their clothing (sic).

Delhi branch did not answer. Kolkata said stags are allowed, although their Zomato booking page says otherwise. Discrimination against LGBTQIA+ guests is common at such fancy restaurants, bars and clubs in India, and Virat Kohli is no exception,” the group posted on social media.

The Group Also Accuses Zomato Of Partnering With Companies That That Discriminated Against People Of LGBTQIA+ Communities

Not only did the LGTBQ+ group YesWeExistIndia accuse Virat Kohli’s restaurants of homophobia, it also slammed food delivery app Zomato and said that the company had not agreed to partner with restaurants that discriminated against people of LGBTQIA+ communities.

The group posted: “Guests at Kohli’s Restaurant In 2019, in response to a petition by Jeet (the founder of Yes, We Exist), Zomato launched an ‘LGBTQIA friendly’ tag for restaurants that do not discriminate against our community.

Zomato did not agree to stop partnering with restaurants that discriminate, however, it assured that it will routinely attempt to sensitise restaurants to have inclusive entry policies. We have emailed Zomato asking if they have attempted to sensitise Virat Kohli. We shall share an update here once we hear back.”

Virat Kohli is currently on a break and will be back in action when India and New Zealand play the second Test of their series in Mumbai from December 3^rd onwards.

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