Some Republican governors are rebranding Pride Month with conservative alternatives

By — Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press By — Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press By — Marc Levy, Associated Press Marc Levy, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/some-republican-governors-are-rebranding-pride-month-with-conservative-alternatives Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Some Republican governors are rebranding Pride Month with conservative alternatives Nation Jun 4, 2026 8:23 PM EDT SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — June is widely recognized as Pride Month, but a handful of Republican governors have bestowed alternative titles that both supporters and opponents view as counterprogramming. Without directly saying the idea was to replace Pride, the governors of Indiana and Tennessee rebranded June as Nuclear Family Month to celebrate units made up of "one husband, one wife and any biological, adopted or fostered children." In Alabama, it's Strong Families Month, intended to coincide with Father's Day. Gov. Kay Ivey's proclamation says fathers are "the head of the household" and "homes led by a father and mother provide children with the structure and discipline necessary to succeed throughout life." Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. The governors of Utah and Arkansas deemed it Fidelity Month, which emphasizes fidelity to faith, country and family — without comment on how those families might be comprised. Last week, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' 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. Family focus for June has come on strong this year Republican lawmakers in at least four other GOP-controlled states have introduced legislation this year calling for June to be Fidelity Month. An organization pushing that concept was founded by Robert P. George, a Princeton University professor of jurisprudence who has long been a leader on conservative thought. His group did not respond to interview requests. He told the National Catholic Register about the idea in 2023, saying "nobody gets 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 first anniversary of the violent police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar, and have since expanded to cities worldwide. READ MORE: Trump administration agrees to return Pride flag to Stonewall National Monument in New York "You can call it whatever you want, but one thing you're not going to do is take away our pride or take away our joy," said Jordan Braxton co-president of USA Prides. Every Democratic president since Bill Clinton