A celebration of Pride and the First Amendment
By The Herald Editorial Board
With the conclusion of Pride Month on Sunday, it’s obvious that efforts to allow the LGBTQ+ community some comfort and peace in living their lives as they are continues as a slow march of progress.
The modern Pride movement — which started with the Stonewall Riots in New York City in 1969 and notched a significant victory in the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, that legalized the right to marry for same-sex couples — has in recent years become a more locally and personally focused campaign for acceptance — and not just tolerance — in one’s own skin and one’s own community.
Thus explains the importance of Pride celebrations in communities large and small that are now typical in June. It’s not been a smooth march in all communities, as evidence by the recent investigative article by Herald Reporter Jordan Hansen into the effort by some Arlington-area churches seeking to discourage the City of Arlington’s permitting of that community’s Pride celebration in 2023.
Delving into city records through a public records request and recordings of church sermons posted to church websites, Hansen’s account shows a behind-the-scenes “battle” against the celebration that included emails, letters and meetings among church leaders and public officials, many of which accused Pride organizers and the larger LGBTQ+ community of sexual deviancy. Specific approbation was focused on transgender people — often conflated with those who perform in drag — as demonic sinners who were sexualizing “little tiny children.”
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-a-celebration-of-pride-and-the-first-amendment/
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