Earlier this month, city officials in Lansing, Michigan raise the Pride flag over the Lansing City Council. Some Republican governors are renaming June, widely recognized as Pride Month, with conservative-friendly nicknames such as “Nuclear Family Month.” (Photo by Katherine Dailey/Michigan Advance)
A half-dozen Republican governors are pushing alternative names for June, which is widely recognized as Pride Month in the United States.
Without explicitly tying their efforts to replacing Pride Month — which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community — GOP governors in states including Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee and Utah have given June a conservative-friendly moniker that celebrates one type of family unit: a man and a woman who are married and have children.
The proclamations do not carry the weight of law, but are public statements about the kinds of families these states’ leaders want to promote.
IN TennesseeGOP state legislators passed a resolution signed by Republican Governor Bill Lee, designating June as “Nuclear Family Month.” The resolution defines the “nuclear family” as “one husband, one wife and all biological, adopted or foster children” and calls it “God’s design for family structure.”
IndianaRepublican Governor Mike Braun also declared June “Nuclear Family Month” in: proclamation with wording similar to Tennessee. Braun told reporters the proclamation was not intended to send a message to other types of families, Indiana Capital Chronicle reported.
IN AlabamaRepublican Gov. Kay Ivey declared June “Strong Families Month.” Her clerk announcement nominations emphasized the role of fathers as the “head of the home”.
IN NebraskaRepublican Gov. Jim Pillen has designated June as “Marriage and Family Month,” proclaiming that “God’s design” is for marriage to be a family with one husband, one wife and children.
Pills called it is “the most important proclamation I have ever had the honor to sign.”
Republican governors Arkansas AND Utah declared June “the month of faithfulness”, definition fidelity as devotion to faith, family and homeland. The proclamations do not directly describe the composition of these families. The idea of a “Month of Fidelity” was first proposed. promoted a few years ago by a conservative Christian lawyer.
Republican Governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders sent about its declaration on X by sharing a link to an article calling such efforts “counterprogramming” for Pride Month.
But June’s rebranding marks a departure for Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, who declared June Pride Month during his first three years in office and previously he expressed remorse for his attitude towards gays.
Pride Month celebrates LGBTQ+ history and culture and serves as a platform to boost the visibility of queer communities who continue to fight for civil rights and equality. In every state, ceremonial parades, concerts and festivals are held there.
LGBTQ+ advocates have called the rebranding efforts “disappointing” and a deliberate attempt to erase communities that are already vulnerable.
“Pride Month is a celebration that uplifts marginalized people and provides them with the resources they need to survive and spaces in which they can thrive,” Utah-based Project Rainbow wrote in an article statement regarding Cox’s decision to designate June as Faithfulness Month.
Supporters say the month is not only about celebration, but also provides critical opportunities to support queer people. In 2023, the last year for which data is available, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 3 in 5 LGBTQ+ high school students experienced “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” in the previous year. One in five LGBTQ+ participants in the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Study said they had attempted suicide.
While Republican governors did mainly while some elected officials refrained from directly mentioning Pride Month or tying their efforts to name the months to its removal, some elected officials were more blunt.
Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles posted the following on his official X account: “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month” on June 1, but later deleted This.
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, a Republican, shared an illustrated version of the proclamation on social media titled “Take Back the Rainbow!” and depicting a heterosexual white couple with children.
Stateline reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be reached at: avollers@stateline.org
This story was originally produced by State linewhich is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network that includes the Ohio Capital Journal and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
