Background and History

Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of commitment to social justice, including gay rights. This commitment is grounded in our Company’s core values, which include a deep respect for people inside and outside our Company and an unshakable belief that all people deserve full and equal civil rights.

In 1989, we extended full benefits to unmarried partners of our employees, including same-sex partners. In 2000, we advocated publicly for our home state, Vermont, to create civil unions as a big step forward for equal protection for gays and lesbians. In 2009, we renamed our iconic Chubby Hubby flavor to support the same-sex marriage law taking effect, offering scoops of “HUBBY HUBBY” in Vermont to symbolically show our support. In the UK, we created a special edition flavor called “Apple-y Ever After” in 2012 to urge Parliament to legalize same-sex marriage.

Our Position

Very simply, Ben & Jerry’s supports marriage equality for gays and lesbians everywhere. We will continue to work in partnership with relevant nonprofit organizations to:
• Build public support for marriage equality
• Add our voice to the public discourse around marriage equality
• Celebrate the expansion of marriage equality to new states and countries.

Current Campaigns