LBGT Mob Targets Bakery Over Nuclear Family Celebration
A family-owned bakery in rural Minnesota is facing backlash after launching a June promotion celebrating the nuclear family, a public stand the owner says is rooted in his Christian faith.
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Carl’s Bakery & Coffee Shop in Granite Falls announced a month-long “Nuclear Family Month” campaign featuring specials for married couples, parents, children and grandparents. Valley News Live reported that the bakery described the promotion as a response to “perilous and tumultuous times” in America, including economic worries, distrust in institutions, falling birthrates and a breakdown between generations.
“Rather than fixating on these woes, we would like to focus our attention on what we believe both nature’s law and nature’s God reveal as the primary building block for any great society: the nuclear family,” the bakery said in a social media statement.
Owner Joshua Streblow told The Christian Post the promotion was meant to celebrate “the beauty of God’s design and the beauty of God’s declared word with respect to these designs.”
“We want to see all that God has said is good, true, and beautiful, celebrated in every sphere of life,” Streblow said. “And that includes our own business, that includes on Main Street in which we live and participate, and the town we have generations of life in.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that Streblow said he intended to honor nuclear families — “a man, woman and children” — as a counter to Pride Month. Streblow told the newspaper the specials are not meant to judge or exclude customers.
“The nuclear family has been historically and I believe fundamentally recognized as the building block for a society,” he said. “While I absolutely love any and all of God’s creatures, I do join with God in how I think about what is good and what is not.”
The backlash was swift.
LGBTQ Nation, in a story headlined “Bakery gives straight couples free coffee to celebrate ‘Nuclear Family Month’ in June,” wrote, “They claim they’re not homophobic because they love people ‘struggling with same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria.’” The outlet also argued the bakery’s decision came amid a broader Republican trend “to signal their states’ lack of support for LGBTQ+ people.”
Kat Rohn, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, told the Star Tribune that “LGBTQ families are families, too.”
“I think it sends the wrong message — regardless of whether it was during Pride Month or not — that you aren’t seen as equal partners in public life,” Rohn said, “and I think that’s a dangerous message to send.”
Granite Falls resident Melissa Peterson told the Star Tribune the promotion felt “very grifty,” saying, “The thing that feels the grossest to me is [that] they stir up a bunch of controversy about it and then they announced their merch.”
But Streblow told The Christian Post the most vicious attacks came from outside the community.
“We’re blocking numbers from people who are saying they wish we would die, they wish we would be murdered like other people they’ve known in the gay community, they hope our business burns down,” he said. “It’s that kind of thing, just streams of profanity.”
Still, Streblow said the bakery remains open to everyone.
“Anybody that comes into this bakery is greeted by our children,” he told the Star Tribune. “They are greeted with a smile and they are greeted with openness. We don’t need agreement to have friendship or to have community with people.”