Betty Crocker Bakes Cakes for first 3 Gay Couples to Wed in Minnesota

On August 1st, Minnesota Becomes 12th State to Legalize Same-sex Marriage

Three same-sex couples gathered at Betty Crocker Kitchens at General Mills Headquarters in Golden Valley, Minnesota to taste-test wedding cakes that are being donated for their weddings. Baked with the Betty Crocker formula, these cakes are for the first three couples who will be the first to marry in the 12th state that has legalized gay marriage on August 1.

General Mills Supports Marriage Equality

General Mills, which owns the Betty Crocker brand, is donating cakes as part of the brand’s “The Family Project,” a mission to understand what it means to be a family so we can share the strengths that make every family party of a home.  The website says that families are changing a lot.  But they’re still got one thing in common – the love that makes a home.  At Betty Crocker, we believe that a family is a family, no matter how it’s arranged. “  Crocker includes same-sex couples in its “Home: The State of Family in America.”

The Lucky Couples Who Get Free Wedding Cakes

The first couple to marry are two women who live in Grand Forks, North Dakota. (on August 1, Miinesota’s law will recognize the marriages of gay couples who legally wed in other states).  They are Margaret Miles and Cathy ten Broeke who have a five-year-old son and already had a wedding twelve years ago. They will be married by Mayor R.T. Rybak at City Hall as will Reid Bordson and Paul Nolle.

Mayor Rybak is expected to officiate at the marriage of forty-two same-sex couples. Minnesota estimates that 5,000 gay couples will marry during the law’s first year. Gay weddings are not just taking place in courthouses. One is scheduled at 12:01 a.m. at the Mall of America’s Chapel of Love. The Como Park Conservatory in St. Paul will be the official wedding site of the third couple, Al Giraud and Jeff Isaacson.

Minnesota Was Not Always Ready for Gay Marriage

It was a two year political battle for Minnesota to arrive at same-sex marriage on August 1, 2013. On November 6, 2012, a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage passed by the Legislature.  In 2011, gay marriage was rejected by 52.6% of Minnesota voters. Minnesota became the second state to reject such a ban through popular referendum.

On May 1, 2013, the House of Representative passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on a vote of 75 to 50. On May 13, 2013, the Senate passed a bill on a vote of 37-30. Governor Mark Dayton signed the bill into law on May 14th with the legalization of same-sex marriage taking effect on August 1, 2013 (same day as Rhode Island’s ).

The Times They Are A Changin’

When a gay ban was on the ballot last fall, only a dozen among Minnesota’s eighty-seven counties opposed it.  Most rural counties supported the idea of banning gay marriage by margins of 3-to-2, or even 3-to-1.  They were outvoted by the urban centers statewide.

Now, a June 2013 Star Tribune Minnesota poll found that 46% of Minnesotans support same-sex marriage.