The decline of Pride

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Up next, Pride Month gets some new names.

Well we’re about halfway through June. In some places that’s marked with rainbow flags and parades, but this year, some states are taking a different approach.

WTHR: And back here in Indiana, Governor Mike Braun is declaring June, which is Pride Month, Nuclear Family Month.

KUTV: Governor Cox officially declaring June Fidelity Month here in Utah, saying...

ABC4029: Today, Governor Sarah Sanders proclaimed June 2026 as Fidelity Month in Arkansas.

EICHER: It was President Bill Clinton who first introduced Pride Month back in 1999.

But on both state and corporate levels, support for one of the seven deadly sins is waning, and alternatives are popping up.

One of them is Fidelity Month.

ROBERT GEORGE: Fidelity Month is all about rededicating ourselves to those fundamental values that once bound us together.

In 2023, Witherspoon Institute legal scholar Robert George saw a report that the value Americans place on things like loyalty to God, family, and country was in decline.

ROBERT GEORGE: For almost all of our history, really until very recently, what bound Americans together, despite our many differences, united us, what provided our sources of unity and strength, were shared beliefs, shared commitment, shared values.

BROWN: He says Americans cannot rely on culture, ethnicity, or religion to bind them together.

GEORGE: It's got to be other things, like the belief in our constitutional republic and in our democratic form of government, like the belief in the importance of God, and of marriage, and of patriotism.

Hispanic, black, and white people can agree on the importance of family.

Muslims, Jews, and Christians can agree on the importance of God.

He says Fidelity Month could be a way to build back those bridges across religious, cultural, ethnic, and racial lines.

EICHER: Pride Month supporters are critical of any move away from it. The Freedom From Religion Foundation says that Pride Month is necessary for recognizing LGBTQ people.

But Congresswoman Mary Miller of Illinois says celebrating the American family promotes children and stable communities.

She introduced a resolution in Congress to replace Pride month with Family Month.

BROWN: And the government isn’t the only one changing direction.

NPR reports that corporate sponsorships declined for 2026 Pride celebrations in major cities like New York, Salt Lake, and Orlando, among others. The report says organizations are moving away from backing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

EICHER: Some churches are calling for a change, too. One pastor and his congregation in Raleigh, N.C., are reclaiming the month of June and the rainbow symbol by proclaiming what they call Jesus Pride.

TC: The reason people are so moved and confused about this is so many churches and pastors have decided to give up on God’s rainbow.

On top of that, March for Life President Jennie Bradley Lichter says that June holds another reason to celebrate.

JENNIE LICHTER: The month of June is and forever will be really important for the pro-life movement in this country, because it is, of course, the month where Roe vs Wade was consigned to the dustbin of history.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe with a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson … a ruling that allowed states to protect unborn lives.

LICHTER: Which, of course, was not the end of our work, but was a key sort of pivot point in our work.

In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt designated June Life Month and called for the state to recognize the “inherent human dignity and value of every human life.”

BROWN: No matter what June is called this year, or in the future, Scholar Robert George says these principles of “fidelity” apply to everyone.

GEORGE: What's going to bring us as a people closer in line with our fundamental principles? It will be individual people believing in those principles more fervently and acting on those principles with greater determination.

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