Gov. Cox’s decision to declare June “Fidelity Month” rather than recognize Pride Month sends a disappointing message to Utah’s LGBTQ+ community. At a time when many corporations are also retreating from Pride support, it is clear that some institutions find inclusion easy when it is profitable and difficult when it requires courage.
Pride exists because generations of LGBTQ+ people fought against discrimination, exclusion, and the demand that they remain invisible. No alternative proclamation can erase that history or diminish the dignity of those it represents.
Long after today’s politicians, executives and culture warriors are gone, history will render its own verdict. It rarely remembers those who accommodated prejudice kindly. It remembers whether leaders chose courage or convenience when minorities were being singled out and marginalized.
Utah’s LGBTQ+ community does not need permission to exist, to be visible, or to be celebrated. But our leaders should be held accountable when they choose symbolism that divides rather than unites.
Clifton Wright, Salt Lake City