When I say it is "official," all that means is that the President designated it as such. It really doesn't mean anything. It is more like the President simply said it was a month to observe all things homosexual. Since the President is not a king, his designation of a certain month as a month to observe something carries no more weight than if I designated May as "Rod Williams Appreciation Month."
There are a lot of "months" that some organizations say is the month for their cause such as National Mentoring Month in January. Some of the months have a designation by Congress and some are designated by the President, and some are just so designated by the organization devoted to that cause.
February is National Heart Month, and it has a Presidential designation. February is also National Bird-Feeding Month, and it was sort of made "official" when a congressman read a declaration declaring it as such into the Congressional Record. You are not required to feed birds during National Bird-Feeding Month.
June in addition to being Pride Month is also African-American Music Appreciation Month. It was so designated by President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Despite the designation by a president, you are not required to appreciate African-American Music in the month of June. There are dozens and dozens of designations of months to recognize this or that cause. You can see a list published by Wikipedia at this link.
I don't celebrate Pride Month. I don't observe it. In fact, I am offended by all of the rainbow washing and having it rammed down my throat. (No pun intended there.) Anyway, I don't like it, and I find it mildly annoying but for the most part I simply ignore it. If I walk into a store and they have a Pride flag draped around a beer display and I had come into the store to buy beer, I will still buy my beer and I would not give the store clerk a hard time about the display. Life is too short to get worked up over it.
While I do find Pride month somewhat offensive and mildly annoying, I really don't mind if one is gay or not. I have known gay people and worked with them and served them as clients. I would not make a point of offending a person who was gay. If I found the person an interesting person, I could enjoy his company and conversation and could really care less about his sexual orientation. If eating in a restaurant and my waiter is kind of limp-wristed and effeminate, I am not going to tip him any less if the service is good. One's sexual orientation is kind of irrelevant to me.
On the other hand, I am not going to celebrate one's homosexuality and I don't won't to normalize what is not normal. I would not attend a gay wedding and think that a marriage should be between a man and a woman, but I would not boycott Thanksgiving if a gay cousin brought his same-sex "spouse." I have seen drag queen performances and think they are harmless and not worth trying to ban. If some guy wants to dress up like Dolly Parton or Liza Minnelli and lip sync, what does it hurt? Also, I think it is an overreach for government to tell a bar owner that he must have men-only and women-only restrooms.
When it comes to Pride month, not everyone agrees with my attitude of be annoyed and don't celebrate it, but don't get all bent out of shape over it and try to just ignore it. One who does get bent out of shape is Gary Humble of Tennessee Stands.
In a commentary addressing Pride Month, Humble says some things that I can agree with about the general state of American culture. I agree with him when he says decades of feminism have worked to devalue women who assume the roles of homemakers, teachers to their children, and a support to their husbands. I think the pendulum is swinging back somewhat and more women are beginning to appreciate the importance of the role of mother and wife and homemaker and the importance of the family unit. I am pleased with what I see as a reappreciation of traditional roles. At the same time, I don't criticize a woman who feels she must have a career to feel fulfilled. Also, if a man wants to be the househusband and primary caregiver of the children, that is okay, too. It is none of my business and to each his own.
When Humble rants about the failure of Christians to stand up to cultural decline, I understand his point of view. I was raised in a fundamentalist Christain household. I understand how a fundamentalist Christian feels when his church approves of homosexuality and even allows gay ministers. I understand the dismay of Christians when the Church no longer condemns sin and normalized deviance. While I would not express myself in the dogmatic terms used by Humble, I understand the fundamentalist Christain mindset. I understand and excuse a lot of strident absolutism.
Where Humble totally loses me is when he refers to the queer community as "terrorist." Here are excerpts from the editorial:
Coming into June, now a month celebrating lies, perversion, and debauchery, people of faith have an obligation to reject the month of domestic terrorism called, pride month. Your tolerance is deadly and your silence is nothing short of a refusal to declare the truth to a dying world. You are lukewarm. You are the false teacher that scripture warns about.
It is time to put your money where your mouth is. If you can pass by the queer children’s section and remain shopping at Target, you are the problem. If you cannot quit drinking Starbucks though they are funding free sex changes for their employees, you are the problem. If you go along with the pronouns, DEI training, and pride festivities in your workplace because you cannot risk losing your job, you are the problem. And yes, I said that out loud.
Choose this day whom you will serve. You cannot serve two masters.
He is speaking of course as a Christain, and I understand. I was raised in a Southern Baptist teetotaling household, and my father would not shop at a store that sold beer. If watching Bonanza on TV and Hoss Cartwright walked into a bar and ordered a whiskey, my dad made us change the channel. I understand those who take a strong stand against what they consider sin.
What is over the top and what I find outrageous and do not understand is referring to Pride month as "the month of domestic terrorism." If anything, gays are more likely to be the victims of terrorism than the perpetrators of terrorism. Gary Humble needs to get a grip.
Top Stories
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment