Christians v no-cost ice-cream

Guest blogger Amy Russell carries experience to an extremely unlikely protest incited by no-cost dessert.

YOU’LL FIND NOTHING WORSE THAN seated at the desk throughout the day. It’s upwards there with going to the dental practitioner, having a pap smear or, as I found now, narrow-minded men and women raining on a gay procession.

Looking for some oxygen at meal, We remaining my personal company and stepped up Pitt Street where i ran across a Ben & Jerry’s stand in the center from the active shopping mall. Alongside a huge rainbow wedding dessert, Ben & Jerry’s personnel had been handing out 100 % FREE Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough frozen dessert. But the preferred flavour had been decked out as another thing: “we Dough, we Dough”, a taste in support of Australian relationship equivalence.

If the no-cost dessert attracted some interest, the rainbow meal suffered it. Passers-by happened to be hiking on the cake and having their unique photos used, or watching on as they enjoyed the innovative mixture off cookie dough and chocolate processor. Used to do. It absolutely was tasty.

The world unfolding nearby, however, had not been. A few metres from the B&J’s group, a trio of odd-looking spiritual fundamentalists (you know the sort: ugly, red-faced blokes wearing loose-fitting denim jeans and terrible shoes) had assembled on their detergent cartons (read: dairy crates) and happened to be holding indicators emblazoned with shouty capitals outlining the reason why we had been planning hell. Homosexuality ended up being the key ticket.

To increase the spectacle, cultivated males in purple onesies, with placards marketing a unique bar stuck for their backs, had accompanied the B&J’s group in posing for pictures, mounting the meal and attempting to disregard the preachers.

Then the police turned-up.

They would demonstrably been tipped down regarding the fundamentalists, or had heard their particular dangers completely at Redfern Station. You cann’t assist but stare. The amalgamation of colours, signage and sounds ended up being fascinating, as well as the musical accompaniment of snacks managed to get feel we had been spectators at some type of unconventional activities match.

At first, it wasn’t clear who was simply winning – the vile drivel the fundamentalists spouted was actually practically enough to destroy the flavor of my personal frozen dessert. But then the impressive occurred. A B&J’s group member contacted the trio and offered the loudest in the three a supplementary good-sized serving of frozen dessert. The guy ignored the woman frozen olive branch, hardly pausing for breath.

That action talked higher than just about any signage. Its beyond my personal understanding that someone could thus fervently preach regarding good of humanity without recognising that, in actuality, the actual only real hope there is is in accepting and loving one another. I’ll never comprehend such discrimination more than I will comprehend a weirdo who can turn out free ice cream.

Text by Amy Russell. Amy is actually a Sydney-based journalist employed by Australian Geographic, and an enthusiastic ice-cream eater.

Image due to Ben & Jerry’s fb page