Hearts, stars, horseshoes, clovers, and boycotts — and no rainbows. Minnesota for Marriage has become a bitter Betty Crocker and is not cuckoo for General Mills’ opposition to the marriage inequality amendment.
In an email to supporters today, the group has pledged to hold “Dump General Mills rallies” across from the company’s headquarters for four days next week. Participants are invited to bring their General Mills products from home to “dump” in a trailer — presumably without emptying the containers, because they plan to donate the food to local food banks. Jeremy Hooper notes that the National Organization for Marriage is likely behind the effort, both because the group recently acquired DumpGeneralMills.com and because the campaign mirrors dismal “Dump Starbucks” campaign that NOM still clings to.
It’s unclear how the anti-gay coalition thinks this will help them. NOM regularly plays the victim by complaining that businesses are targeted and harassed for opposing marriage equality, but now they are intentionally targeting and harassing businesses who support marriage equality. Their disingenuous plea for “neutrality” read more like an ultimatum than any kind of civil discourse.
In addition, alienating locally-based businesses will not entice voters to their anti-equality cause. Research shows that states benefit financially from marriage equality, and businesses are more lucrative when inclusive policies allow them to attract more competitive job candidates. An outside influence is attempting to pass a bad, unpopular law and is attacking local businesses in the process — that isn’t exactly a vote-enticing strategy.
General Mills is a company committed to families’ health and well-being, so its support of same-sex families makes perfect sense. Research consistently shows that marriage equality is kid-tested, mother-approved. Silly NOM, your boycott is about anything but the kids.