There was a lot of talk in conservative circles this month on whether, in 2024, we still need to celebrate Pride. Some have argued that the codification of marriage equality in 2015 means lesbians, gays and bisexuals are no longer persecuted and so no longer need a Pride celebration. Others claim that the trans rights movement has “taken over” the modern fight for queer rights and doesn’t deserve celebrating.
“God hates Pride,” Colorado state Republican chair Dave Williams declared in an early-June email, and the state party’s X account called on followers to burn pride flags. In that email, Williams wrote, “The month of June has arrived and, once again, the godless groomers in our society want to attack what is decent, holy and righteous so they can ultimately harm our children.”
There was a lot of talk in conservative circles this month on whether, in 2024, we still need to commemorate Pride.
In Britain, gender critical activist Kathleen Stock, decrying the 30 days of Pride Month, wrote a meandering, transphobic and borderline homophobic column for The Times of London where she claims, “The Catholic church has fewer holy days of obligation than the modern LGBTQI+ movement, and is arguably a lot less guilt-tripping.” As a lapsed Catholic myself, I can say no, Kathleen, the LGBTQ movement of today does not provoke more guilt than Catholicism. It encourages the opposite of guilt.
On social media, conservatives have practically wet themselves over Pride, each trying to constantly one-up the other with their condemnations of queer and trans people and our month of celebration. On X, conservative commentator Tomi Lahren tweeted, “I guess it’s pride month. I still don’t understand why there needs to be an entire month dedicated to sexual preference. But here we are.”
Full disclosure: I no longer go to local Pride events. I found them cool when I first came out, but as I’ve become more of a hermit, the idea of sitting in the June heat for a quasi-corporate parade just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. However, we still very much need Pride, here in the U.S. and across the world, despite — maybe even because of — what conservatives and gender critical activists would have us believe.
In the U.S., it’s still legal in some states to discriminate against LGBTQ people in housing, medical and public accommodations situations. It’s still legal in many places in the U.S. and in the U.K. to perform involuntary conversion therapy on LGBTQ people. In the U.S. and across Europe, a moral panic has kicked off about the mere existence of trans people and especially trans youth, resulting in devastating and harmfully oppressive legislation against gender-affirming care.
Just this week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about Tennessee’s youth gender-affirming care ban, and one of the justices set to hear the case, Samuel Alito, is not only a deeply conservative jurist who dissented from the 2015 marriage equality decision, but he also is married to a woman who apparently loses her mind whenever she sees a Pride flag. Alito is one of the conservative justices on the Supreme Court who’s been itching for a chance to overturn that marriage equality decision.
In many places worldwide, LGBTQ people are still put to death or imprisoned to undergo forced conversion therapy or forced detransitionioning. In many places worldwide, LGBTQ people are still put to death or imprisoned to undergo forced conversion therapy or forced detransitioning. I’ve been told by sources in the Middle East that trans women are routinely rounded up and imprisoned. They have their heads forcibly shaved and are beaten until they renounce their trans identities and detransition. I suspect many conservatives and gender critical people in the U.S. and Europe would like to do the same, though they won’t admit it publicly. In the face of all of these things, it’s pretty easy for me to see why we still need Pride, even if I no longer attend specific parades myself. Bigotry and hatred of LGBTQ people is still rampant in most places across the globe and in many places even here in the U.S. One of our major political parties is still firmly anti-queer in general and bitterly anti-trans specifically. This is a terrifying time to come out as a trans person, and in many places, it’s still not a fun experience to come out as gay or lesbian. Pride events give queer and trans people an important place to find friendly and supportive local communities amid the rising homophobia and transphobia. Much to the chagrin of the homophobes and transphobes of the world, we will need Pride until there is no more homophobia and transphobia. Ironically, these conservatives existing and shoving their hate for queer people down our throats is what continues to make Pride necessary and what, ironically, keeps Pride going.
Katelyn Burns is a freelance journalist based in New England. 
