Red states push conservative rebrands of Pride month in backlash to LGBTQ+ celebrations

Parade participants wave to spectators during the Nashville Pride parade on 24 June 2023. Photograph: George Walker IV/AP View image in fullscreen Parade participants wave to spectators during the Nashville Pride parade on 24 June 2023. Photograph: George Walker IV/AP Red states push conservative rebrands of Pride month in backlash to LGBTQ+ celebrations Republican states rebrand June as ‘nuclear family month’ or ‘fidelity month’ in latest attack on LGBTQ+ communities June is widely marked as gay Pride month – when LGBTQ+ communities march to protest discrimination and celebrate their identities in the month that the modern US gay liberation movement was born out of the 1969 uprising at New York’s Stonewall Inn – although not so much in certain Republican-led states this year. Some Republican governors have suddenly come up with alternative labels for the month, which both supporters and opponents view as counterprogramming. The governors of Indiana and Tennessee have rebranded June as “nuclear family month”, explicitly to celebrate units made up of “one husband, one wife and any biological, adopted or fostered children”. The riot that changed America’s gay rights movement forever Read more In Alabama, it is now titled “strong families month”, apparently to promote Father’s Day, which falls in June in the US. However, despite the fact that millions of LGBTQ+ people are from and go on to create strong families, including households with two fathers, Republican governor Kay Ivey was nothing if not explicit, declaring: “Homes led by a father and mother provide children with the structure and discipline necessary to succeed throughout life.” She also proclaimed that the father is the head of such households. The governors have not specified that these labels are meant to replace Pride month for LGBTQ+ communities, but the sociopolitical message is loud and clear to most. Josh Coleman, president of Central Alabama Pride, which has 42 events planned over two weeks, said the months celebrations, which culminate with a parade on 13 June and festival 14 June, won’t be affected by the proclamation. “It’s not lost upon LGBTQ people when elected leaders don’t recognize or value the visibility of the community,” he said. “That’s why Pride started in the first place – to make sure the community had a community.” The governors of Utah and Arkansas have deemed it “fidelity month”, which emphasizes fidelity to faith, country and family, however, without comment on how those families might be comprised. But last week, Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s X account posted a link to an article about her proclamation that declared: “Another Red State is Counter-Programming Pride Month.” She and the other governors haven’t answered questions from the Associated Press about why their proclamations are all set in June. The second Trump administration has seen an escalation in conservative state and federal attacks on transgender rights , in particular, especially