Fortnum & Mason launches Biblical biscuits featuring ‘Adam and Steve’ in the Garden of Eden
PinkNews Exclusive
Department store Fortnum & Mason is selling a biscuit collection based on the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden – featuring gay and lesbian couples.
“It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” is often the mantra of anti-LGBT Christians across the world, but the store apparently decided it could be Adam and Steve after all.
The world-famous department store, which holds a royal warrant as a supplier of goods to the royal family, started selling a £15 circular biscuit tin this week based on the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
But in a move that’s bound to provoke a reaction from certain elements, the store is also selling tins featuring gay and lesbian couples.
In addition to Adam and Eve, customers are able to buy a tin featuring a gay couple, Adam and Steve, as well as a lesbian couple, Eve and Naimh (pronounced Neve).
The biscuits have won praise from pro-LGBT church groups.
Tracey Byrne of OneBodyOneFaith told PinkNews: “Three cheers to Fortnums and their Valentines biscuits – they’ve worked out what we’ve known all along, that love is love, and that God has blessed loving and committed relationships since the beginning of time.
“In fact, might we suggest that if Adam and Eve had stuck to the biscuits and kept off the fresh fruit, things might have turned out very different!
“If Adam, Eve, Niamh and Steve want to pop round. we’ll have the kettle on in celebration of love, justice and the restorative effects of a good cuppa.”
A spokesperson for Fortnum & Mason told PinkNews: “Fortnum’s has always been for everyone, with excellent taste, and we are delighted with the response to this collection. We can’t think of better biscuits to enjoy with a cup of tea this Valentine’s Day.”
A description of the range on the Fortnum’s website says “Whether by grand gift or intimate gesture, Valentine’s Day is the year’s best chance to sweep a loved one off their feet.
“What better than to give the gift of Fortnum’s.”
The description for the biscuits adds: “Delicately hand-iced exclusively for Fortnum’s, these gingerbread biscuits are baked to perfection to make a most memorable and, indeed, delicious gift for your loved one this Valentine’s Day.”
During the debate on equal marriage in the House of Commons, DUP MP David Simpson famously insisted it’s “Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve”.
Ranting against equal marriage, he said: “This is not the jurisdiction of this House.
“This is not the jurisdiction of this Government, of any European Government or of any Government in the world.
“This is an ordained constitution of God. In the garden of Eden, it was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
A key member of Australia’s Coalition for Marriage also previously urged people to oppose LGBT equality because “In the beginning almighty god created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve!”
New South Wales MP Fred Nile, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party, said: “The Almighty God the Creator has stated homosexual Same-Sex sexual relations are an ABOMINATION that is something God’s [sic] hates”.
A story went viral in 2016 about a waiter who was deprived a tip by a customer – who wrote “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” on the receipt.
Eddy Cabrera, who works in Chelly’s Cafe, Missouri – says he was serving a particularly raucous table who were “being rude to him the entire time”.
Cabrera says he did his best to serve the table quickly and politely, despite the customer’s consistent rudeness.
However rather than tipping their patient waiter, when the group eventually departed, they left a homophobic note.
“Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve”.
The Church of England hhas recently been facing pressure to modernise on LGBT issues.
A C of E bishop recently lashed out at conservative evangelicals as he launches a charity that will campaign for LGBT inclusivity.
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes, made the comments as he was named Chair of the Ozanne Foundation, a new charity that will work with religious organisations around the world to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender.
The new foundation has been set up to help educate and advocate on LGBTI and gender rights around the world, particularly within religious organisations that are opposed to non-heterosexual relationships. In addition, it will look to foster good relations inside religious organisations that hold conflicting views on sexuality and gender issues.
Speaking about his decision to chair this new foundation, the Rt Revd Paul Bayes said: “The Church of England has committed herself to what our Archbishops have called radical new Christian inclusion, and has publicly stated that we are against all forms of homophobia.
“If we mean this, and I believe we do, then we need to find appropriate ways of welcoming and affirming LGBTI people who want their love recognised by the Church.
“I have long been an admirer of Jayne Ozanne’s strong clear advocacy for LGBTI people and other groups who have suffered hurt and abuse – not least at the hands of the Church – and I believe her work should be actively supported and encouraged.”
