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By Peyton Majors
Christian Action League
June 7, 2024
One year after a conservative-led backlash, the nationwide celebration of LGBT Pride Month has been subdued so far this month — but that doesn’t mean there are no major exceptions.
Conservative boycotts of Target and Bud Light resulted in financial losses and prompted changes at both companies, reflected this year when Target said its Pride Month collection won’t be sold in all stores and Bud Light remained silent about Pride Month on social media.
Companies such as Disney and Hallmark have also remained silent about Pride Month on social media, even though Disney Plus still offers a prominent “Pride Collection” of movies and television programs on its channel and the Hallmark Channel continues to release films featuring gay leads. The iconic rustic restaurant Cracker Barrel also has remained silent after angering fans last summer with a pro-Pride Month message.
It seems companies are fearful of losing money by angering a large segment of their base. LGBT influencer Alysse Dalessandro said companies are pulling back their celebration of Pride Month.
“This year’s Pride will just be a regular month,” Dalessandro told Modern Retail. “Whereas I used to make one-third of my yearly income, I would say I’ll make one-twelfth of my income this year.”
Still, many prominent voices are not remaining silent.
Ms. Rachel, a popular YouTube teacher who makes videos for toddlers and has 10 million subscribers, sparked a backlash among her fans when she posted a social media video wishing a “Happy Pride to all of our wonderful families and friends.”
“I’m so glad you’re exactly who you are,” she said.
A teacher in real life, Ms. Rachel ignited another backlash when she cited Jesus’ words about love in defending her Pride Month celebration. That led conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey to write on social media: “I’m sure Ms. Rachel is a genuine person, but she gets love wrong. Biblical love rejoices in the truth.”
The new Star Wars series Acolyte on Disney Plus reportedly includes pronouns in a yet-to-be-aired Episode 3, which led film critic Alan Ng — a member of the Critics’ Choice Awards — to declare it “will finally kill Star Wars for the vast majority of Pre-Disney Star Wars Fans.”
In the sports world, the U.S. men’s and women’s teams will wear jerseys with rainbow-themed numbers during their matches in June and auction them off for an LGBT charity, The New York Times reported.
Both teams in the NBA Finals posted comments on social media celebrating Pride Month.
“This month and always, we stand with the LGBTQ+ community, embracing equality and respect for all,” the Boston Celtics said in a June 1 Instagram post.
Their opponents, the Dallas Mavericks, posted a similar message the same day: “Happy #PrideMonth! This month and every month, we stand with the LGBTQ+ community.”
So far, about 22 of the 32 NFL teams have posted pro-Pride Month celebrations on social media.
The Biden administration also has not remained quiet. President Biden issued a proclamation at the beginning of the month declaring:
“Advancing equality for the LGBTQI+ community is a top priority for my Administration.” That includes, it said, “protect[ing] … children from dangerous and hateful anti-LGBTQI+ laws.”
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign said it will have a presence at 200-plus Pride events in 23 states, including in each of the battleground states, The Hill reported.
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, said Christians must not remain silent on issues of sexuality and gender. Too many churches, he said, have jettisoned biblical doctrine.
“Churches that have deviated from traditional doctrine often argue that the biblical passages condemning homosexual behavior are outdated and do not apply to contemporary LGBTQ lifestyles,” Creech said. “They claim that the Israelites were only familiar with homosexual acts linked to temple prostitution, as referenced in passages like Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, and Deuteronomy 23:18, and not with loving, monogamous same-sex relationships.
“Regarding the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, these churches argue that it concerns an attempted gang rape, making its condemnation irrelevant to modern discussions about homosexuality,” he said. “They also reinterpret Romans chapter 1, suggesting it only condemns heterosexual individuals engaging in homosexual acts, which they consider unnatural for them but natural for gay individuals.
“Additionally, they claim that the Greek terms used in I Corinthians 6:9 and I Timothy 1:10 are unclear and likely refer only to pederasty (adult men having sex with boys), a common practice among the elite in biblical times.”
Such interpretations, he said, “represent significant misapplications of hermeneutics, the science of interpreting texts, and most evangelical biblical scholars agree on this point.”
“Archaeological evidence shows that same-sex attraction and practices were known in the ancient world, even though the concept of sexual orientation, as understood today, did not exist,” he said. “This concept is a product of modern psychological study, not biblical teaching. Thus, every mention of behavior akin to LGBTQ in the Bible is condemned – clearly and abundantly condemned.”
“Churches that support LGBTQ lifestyles,” he added, “have typically done so by either grossly misinterpreting Scripture or by abandoning the belief that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of God.”