Rural Minnesota bakery promotes 'Nuclear Family Month' as a counter to Pride month

A west central Minnesota bakery is getting both praise and backlash for special doughnut and coffee sales celebrating June as “Nuclear Family Month.”

Joshua Streblow, who owns Carl’s Bakery in downtown Granite Falls, said he intended to honor nuclear families — a man, woman and children — as a counter to Pride Month, which celebrates LGBTQ people and their civil rights efforts.

A push to celebrate nuclear families has gained traction across the country in recent months as conservative leaders have designated June as a time to support traditional Christian values.

In April, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a resolution designating June as Nuclear Family Month, and just this week, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun issued a formal proclamation on it. Governors from Utah and Arkansas also recently declared June as “Fidelity Month,” with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders stating the resolution recognizes “fidelity to God, family, community and country.”

Streblow said the bakery specials do not mean he’s judging or purposely excluding anyone. He said if someone raises an issue about not being eligible for a promotion, the bakery would give them the discount.

“The nuclear family has been historically and I believe fundamentally recognized as the building block for a society,” Streblow 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.

“I look at issues like homosexuality [and] I look at issues like the very concept of pride, which the Bible speaks to, and I say that God does not declare that to be good,” he continued.

Streblow, his wife and their nine children also run a small livestock farm near Granite Falls, a city of about 2,700 people two hours west of the Twin Cities. They sell the farm’s eggs and meats to community members and use them in bakery products.

On Tuesday morning, Streblow shared a social media post showing a window painting on the downtown business of a family inside a nuclear rotation symbol, as well as weekly specials for married couples, children, parents and three-generation groups.

“Anytime you’re celebrating a good thing, you are by default declaring what you think is not good,” he said. “It’s two sides of the same coin.”

Social media comments range from people supporting the small business for “standing firm in their beliefs” to disappointment and anger about the intentions of the promotions during Pride Month.

One commenter said the promotions are a “very fun and creative way to celebrate” family, which they said was “the backbone of every nation.” Another commenter said they will make an hour drive from their home to the bakery just to support the business this month.

Kat Rohn, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, which advocates for LGBTQ residents, said they think these “one-off stunts” — like Nuclear Family Month or straight pride events — will continue to crop up, but emphasized LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriages generally have broad support across the political spectrum in both rural and urban areas.

“LGBTQ families are families, too,” Rohn said. “There are queer folks in every corner of the state and folks who have started families who are living beautiful, productive lives in these communities.

“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 continued, “and I think that’s a dangerous message to send.”

A day after posting about the Nuclear Family Month specials, the bakery shared that it was selling hats and stickers with the nuclear family logo.

Granite Falls resident Melissa Peterson said the bakery has done similar things in the past, including selling shirts, stickers and window clings after making waves on social media with a window painting that said “Make Small Towns Great Again.”

“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,” Peterson said. “It feels very grifty.”

Peterson serves on the local arts council and volunteers at the Yes! House in downtown Granite Falls, a hub for creative community programming that hosted the first Granite Falls Pride celebration last year. The Yes! House will host the second annual Pride event on June 20.

The spokeswoman for the Granite Falls-based Department of Public Transformation, the nonprofit that runs the Yes! House, said in a statement, “Carl’s Bakery is our neighbor, and like in many rural places, neighbors don’t always agree on everything.”

Peterson said she “hates the idea” that people in the community might feel further ostracized because of the emphasis on traditional, heteronormative values.

“I don’t have any issues with people’s religious beliefs or values. I believe in free speech, as well,” Peterson said. “I do think where it gets tricky is when you blend your personal beliefs with your business [and] people who feel excluded or different than those particular beliefs and values then need to make a choice about [whether] to patronize this business.”

Streblow said the bakery has already received numerous questions about the promotions and said everyone is welcome in the business.

“Anybody that comes into this bakery is greeted by our children. They are greeted with a smile and they are greeted with openness,” he said. “We don’t need agreement to have friendship or to have community with people.”

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