Get your Pride on 

By Nancy Ford 

How’s your summer? Mine has been rolling along relatively well so far, thanks. I managed to avoid being submerged in one of our regions recent deluges. No kindly stranger has needed to perform a water rescue to keep me from floating down the bayou, for which I am grateful. I’m equally grateful that I have remained elevated, dry, fully powered, cool, and safe while thousands of my fellow Texans can’t make the same statement. Stay strong, dears. I truly hope you all get a more than adequate lump of that sweet, sweet FEMA cash to help you get back to normal. 

Speaking of stormy weather, neither have I been found guilty of even one felony count, let alone 34 counts, of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star I got connubial with shortly after my wife had given birth to our son while I was running to become President of the United States. So, yeah, I’m having a great summer. 

And here we are in Pride Month. As MONTROSE STAR went to press with our June issue, President Biden had not yet released his annual Pride Proclamation honoring our country’s LGBTQ+ citizens. But in 2023, opening his statement with a brief history lesson about the Stonewall Riots of 1969, he praised the drag queens and butch dykes who resisted police oppression.  

“Their courage sparked a civil rights movement for the liberation of the LGBTQI+ community and changed our Nation forever,” he said. 

The President continued, noting that the U.S has reached another “inflection point” in our community’s fight for full liberation and recognition. He cited the more than 600 anti-LGBTQ+ laws introduced to state and local legislatures. Book bannings. Trans teens being denied life-saving medical assistance. Armed hate groups invading Pride celebrations and drag performances. The list goes on and on. 

But there is reason for hope, President Biden assured us.  

“On my first day in office, I signed a historic Executive Order charging the entire Federal Government with protecting LGBTQI+ people from discrimination — from health care to housing, education, employment, banking, and the criminal justice system. Last December…I had the great honor of signing into law the landmark Respect for Marriage Act. This bipartisan law protects the rights of same-sex and interracial couples — like caring for one’s sick partner and receiving spousal benefits. Deciding who to marry is one of life’s most profound decisions, so we etched a simple truth into law: Love is love.” 

Joe could have stopped there. But he didn’t. 

“Last year, I signed an Executive Order charging Federal agencies with combating the dangerous and discredited practice of so-called ‘conversion therapy.’ I also directed agencies to help end the crisis of homelessness among LGBTQI+ youth and adults, and to address discrimination that LGBTQI+ kids face in foster care. The Department of Justice is combating laws that target transgender children, and the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services have proposed new rules to protect LGBTQI+ Americans from discrimination in health care, at school, and in sports. I also established the White House Task Force to Address Online Harassment and Abuse, to develop concrete actions to prevent and respond to online harassment and abuse… Now, by calling the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and dialing the number 3, LGBTQI+ youth can speak to counselors who have been specifically trained to support them.”  

There was more good stuff in the President’s 2023 Pride Proclamation, but you get the idea. It’s a safe bet that he won’t falter in his support of us in 2024. 

Conversely, Trump didn’t release a Pride Month Proclamation in any of the four Junes he served as U.S. President. But in April, Log Cabin Republicans (remember them?) held a small fundraiser at Mar-A-Lago with keynote speaker, former First Lady Melania Trump. It’s reported that 28 to 60 or so Log Cabinoids listened in a small “tea room” (appropriate, right?) as Melania helped them rake in more than $1 million earmarked to “get out the vote.”  

Meanwhile, Melania’s husband wandered around a stage somewhere, making tough guy noises about “transgender nonsense” and men in women’s restrooms. 

But back to Pride.  

This year, however, and wherever you celebrate Pride (ah, the choices!), please remember these pro tips: Have fun. Be safe. Be loud. Be aware of your surroundings. Fight the urge to antagonize potential counter-protesters holding neon GOD HATES FAGS signs — that’s what they want. Avoid public nudity and lewdity. Wear a hat. Hydrate. God, I sound so old. 

Most of all, please pause to recognize the immense sacrifices made by our forefathers and mothers to bring us to this place of semi-liberty. We still have a long way to go, though. This month, and again in November, let’s thank those heroes for their sacrifices by not messing it up. 

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