As if the betrayal by Nabisco (and by extension its parent Kraft Foods) in creating a gay Oreo cookie was not bad enough, another food giant General Mills has come out in opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot in Minnesota that would ban same sex marriage, saying that such a ban would be bad for business.

So naturally a group known as Minnesotans for Marriage that opposes same sex marriage has organized a protest in front of the General Mills corporate headquarters and encouraged people to give away their General Mills foodstuffs to food banks and shelters. The General Mills people, in a demonstration of the famed ‘Minnesota nice’, brought out coffee and water to the protestors but the latter, no doubt afraid of catching gay cooties, refused to accept it.

The message of Minnesotans for Marriage seems to me to be a bit confused, starting with its name. If your group’s name says that it is for marriage, then why is it opposed to more people getting married? The fact that they don’t come right out and call themselves something more accurate like ‘Minnesotans Against Same Sex Marriage’ or ‘Minnesotans for Heterosexual Marriage Only’ shows how far the tide has shifted. Such names would immediately make them look like hateful bigots and they know that it would drive more people away than it would attract.

Secondly, why would you give gay-tainted food to the food banks? By giving General Mills food to poor people, don’t they risk giving them a good impression of that Satanic company?

As I said before, when the cautious and profit-motivated corporate America signs on to a social change, it means that public opinion has shifted decisively in its favor.