Friday, May 26, 2017

Days of Lot: ‘Love comes in all flavors’: Ben & Jerry’s latest push for gay ‘marriage’ is the weirdest one yet

Days of Lot: ‘Love comes in all flavors’: Ben & Jerry’s latest push for gay ‘marriage’ is the weirdest one yet 
 Ben & Jerry’s is banning its customers in Australia from ordering two scoops of the same ice cream flavor ... until ‘gay’ marriage is legalized.
A statement on the Ben & Jerry’s Australian website begins, “Imagine heading down to your local Scoop Shop to order your favourite two scoops of Cookie Dough in a waffle cone. But you find out you are not allowed – Ben & Jerry’s has banned two scoops of the same flavour. You’d be furious!”

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“But this doesn’t even begin to compare how furious you would be if you were told you were not allowed to marry the person you love. So we are banning two scoops of the same flavour and encouraging our fans to contact their MPs to tell them that the time has come – make marriage equality legal! Love comes in all flavours!”
At all of their 26 locations in Australia, Ben & Jerry’s is refusing orders from customers who want to indulge in two scoops of the same ice cream flavor. The policy, initiated Wednesday, is the company’s way of pressuring the Australian Parliament  into a vote or a national plebiscite approving genderless "marriage."
In addition to holding their customers’ appetites hostage and demanding they deny themselves double scoops of same flavor of ice cream, the company is asking them to sign an online petition found on the Ben & Jerry’s website.
Each of the Ben & Jerry’s locations has also provided bright red mailboxes and postcards so that customers can dash off a letter to a member of parliament, encouraging a vote to count genderless, non-conjugal, non-complementary couplings as marital unions.
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Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of supporting LGBT causes, boasting on the company’s Australian website:
1989: Ben & Jerry's was the first major employer in its home state of Vermont to offer health insurance to domestic partners of employees, including same-sex couples.
1996: Our Foundation awarded grants to PFLAG (Parents, Friends, and Family of Lesbians and Gays) organizations
1999: Actively supported Vermont’s groundbreaking civil-unions legislation
2001: Supported the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in the U.S.
2009: Celebrated gay marriage in Vermont — we turned Chubby Hubby into Hubby Hubby
2010: Hosted a same-sex “wedding” at a Scoop Shop in Washington D.C. —how sweet it was!
2012: Partnered with Stonewall to support marriage equality in UK with an honorary flavor: Apple-y Ever After
2013: Rallied support for marriage equality in Australia with the I Dough, I Dough flavor, and in Ireland with EngageMint Party
2013: Worked with the band FUN. and the Ally Coalition to raise awareness about the challenges to full LGBT equality
2014: Participated for the first time in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride parade
2015: Joined more than 340 businesses in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court that makes the businesses’ case for marriage equality for all
2015: Supported the ‘Say Yes!’ campaign in Ireland, traveling the country and hosting Yestivals leading up to the remarkable and historic vote on May 22 in support of marriage equality
2015: Along with so many others around the country and the world, on June 26th, celebrated the Supreme Court's momentous decision on marriage equality. To honor this victory, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough was renamed I Dough, I Dough for the summer
2015: Partnered with Australians for Marriage Equality to launch Equality Calling, urging Australian citizens to contact their MP in support of Marriage Equality.