Red states push conservative rebrands of Pride month in backlash to LGBTQ+ celebrations | US news
June is widely celebrated as Gay Pride Month; LGBTQ+ communities march to protest discrimination and celebrate their identities in the month that the modern US gay liberation movement was born from the uprising at New York’s Stonewall Inn in 1969; but not so much this year in some Republican-led states.
Some Republican governors suddenly came up with alternative labels for the month; both supporters and opponents see this as counterprogramming.
The governors of Indiana and Tennessee renamed June “nuclear family month” to explicitly celebrate units consisting of “a husband, a wife, and any biological, adopted, or foster child.”
In Alabama, this month is called “strong families month,” apparently to promote Father’s Day, which falls in June in the United States. However, even though millions of LGBTQ+ people have created and continue to build strong families, including two-father families, Republican governor Kay Ivey has made clear: “Homes led by a father and mother provide children with the structure and discipline they need to succeed throughout their lives.” He also declared that the head of such households is the father.
Governors have not stated that these hashtags should replace Pride Month for LGBTQ+ communities, but the sociopolitical message is loud and clear for many.
Josh Coleman, chairman of the Central Alabama Pride Parade, which has 42 events planned over two weeks, said the month’s celebrations, which end with a parade on June 13 and a festival on June 14, will not be affected by this announcement.
“It is not lost on LGBTQ people that elected leaders do not recognize or value the visibility of the community,” she said. “That’s why Pride started in the first place—to make sure the community had a community.”
The governors of Utah and Arkansas recognized this month as a “month of loyalty,” emphasizing devotion to faith, country and family, but did not comment on how these families were formed.
But last week, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s X account posted a link to an article about her announcement that declared: “Another Red State, CounterProgramming Pride Month.”
He and other governors did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about why their announcements were made in June.
The second Trump administration saw a rise in conservative state and federal attacks on transgender rights, particularly access to gender-affirming medical care, efforts to undermine the legality of same-sex marriage, and bans on LGBTQ+ Pride flags.
Republican lawmakers in at least four GOP-controlled states have introduced legislation this year calling for June to be “loyalty month.”
One organization pushing this concept was founded by Princeton University law professor Robert P George, a long-time leader of conservative thought. His group did not respond to interview requests.
He told the National Catholic Register about the idea in 2023, saying that “no one person can have a monopoly on a particular day or a particular month.”
June Pride celebrations, which often include parades, festivals and performances, began in 1970 to mark the one-year anniversary of the violent police raid on the Stonewall Inn, an LGBTQ+ bar in New York City, and have since spread to cities around the world.
“You can call it whatever you want, but what you won’t do is take away our pride or our joy,” said Jordan Braxton, co-president of USA Prides, an association of pride celebration organizations.
While every Democratic president since Bill Clinton in 1999 has signed a Declaration of Honor every year, no Republican president has.
Last year, Donald Trump’s education department began declaring June “Title IX month” and using it to launch investigations into schools that allowed transgender students to use bathrooms or locker rooms that matched their gender identity.
One of the few GOP governors to announce an LGBTQ+ Pride March in June is Spencer Cox of Utah, who did so in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Cox considered June to be “bridging month” in 2024 before moving to “loyalty month” this year.
A poll released this week found that a two-decade-long rise in acceptance of same-sex marriage and relationships has remained steady, largely because more Republicans oppose them.
Last year, Illinois Republican congresswoman Mary Miller introduced a resolution to make June “family month” and not recognize Pride month, saying, “Americans are inundated throughout the month of June with perverse Pride Month displays and events that denigrate the nuclear family.” He didn’t get any votes.
Kevin Roberts, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation, said in an interview that it’s good for conservatives to get recognition because Pride celebrations “go so far as to make it difficult to celebrate traditional marriage.”
The resolution, approved by the Tennessee legislature and governor, does not specifically mention Pride Month and says “the nuclear family is under attack in our beloved State and nation.”
But conservative activist Lakie Derrick, who wrote the measure with a friend, said he actually targeted it for the month of June to counter Pride Month, which he said was “antithetical” to American values.
“We’re just embracing the culture, and there’s no better month to do that than a month when the culture says we’re going to celebrate something that’s the exact opposite of what we know to be true,” Derrick said.
Marina Lowe, who manages legal and legislative affairs for the LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Utah, dismissed the zero-sum game, saying Pride Month is not the antithesis of other value-based recognitions. He said many LGBTQ+ people also value faith and family, so “I don’t think those positions should conflict with each other.”
Meanwhile, thousands of events celebrating LGBTQ+ pride and campaigning for equality are already taking place across the US, decked out in rainbow colors as ever.
A “Pride Eve” event was held last Saturday at St. John’s Cathedral in New York illuminated with colors The view of the rainbow and the transgender Pride flag as the pews are packed.
