Opponents of gay marriage in Australia are facing a dilemma: give up their convictions, or face never having two scoops of the same flavour of ice cream on the same cone again.
Popular ice cream chain Ben & Jerry's has announced customers won't be allowed to order two scoops of the same flavour until gay marriage is legalised in Australia.
"Imagine heading down to your local Scoop Shop to order your favourite two scoops of Cookie Dough in a waffle cone," the company said in a post on its website.
"But you find out you are not allowed - Ben & Jerry's has banned two scoops of the same flavour. You'd be furious!
"But this doesn't even begin to compare to 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 same sex marriage legal! Love comes in all flavours!"
The move isn't entirely out of leftfield. The US-based company has long been an outspoken advocate of gay rights. As far back as 1989 it extended employment benefits to its employees' partners - married or unmarried, gay or straight - and in 2009 renamed its 'Chubby Hubby' flavour to 'Hubby Hubby', to celebrate its home state of Vermont's introduction of civil unions.
"Very simply, Ben & Jerry's supports marriage equality for gays and lesbians everywhere," a post on its New Zealand site reads.
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott promised a non-binding plebiscite (referendum) on gay marriage, but the Senate shut it down - in Ben & Jerry's view, because they realised it would be an "expensive and unnecessary exercise that could endanger the LGBTQI community and wouldn't even guarantee marriage equality".
Other causes the company has backed include fair trade and reducing carboin emissions to fight global warming.
Newshub.
