Andy Beshear rallies around Pride Month. What will you rally around?
Gov. Beshear kicked off Pride Month with a rally in the state Capitol on Sunday and said that “Kentucky and the rest of the United States cannot possibly reach its full potential unless our people feel supported to be themselves.” Beshear went on to describe discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community as unacceptable: “It holds us back and in my Kentucky accent, ‘It ain’t right.’” To those in attendance—many of whom were students—Beshear is a hero for supporting their self-identity. But to others, extending LGBTQ+ advocacy to minors and forcing society to acquiesce to its demands is indefensible.
Every human being needs friendship and support, and a just society should oppose ugly bigotry. These are two ideas that both the political left and right can agree upon. Deep disagreement enters when children are involved, gender dysphoria morphs into a right, and those who disagree are punished.
As John Stonestreet notes, “Something that was unthinkable in the last 5-6 years has become unquestionable: that you could be born into the wrong body and that society needs to reorient around this.” Stonestreet, who is president of the Colson Center, spoke to a large gathering at the International Convention Center in Louisville over the weekend at an event called the Identity Project. Hundreds attended the event to try to better understand our cultural moment and what it means to be human, what ails us, and how to fix it. Medical professionals, counselors, attorneys, and pastors spoke to different aspects of identity and the fallout from rejecting objective biological reality. One presenter shared that “we’ve pitted our minds against our bodies, our feelings against the truth.”
The speaker is right. Today’s children are suffering from sub-par mental, relational, and overall health. Many are struggling with their identity. So after all the self esteem training, and sex-ed, why are our children more anxious, depressed, lonely, and confused about their sexuality?
Here are a few contributing factors: the social media milieu has been particularly damaging where adolescent girls hold up their Instagram page like a mirror and are reminded daily that they fail to measure up. Smartphones, the mega computers in their pockets, give minors access to vile pornography and destructive ideologies. It also gives predators access to them.
We’ve failed as a society to recognize the idea of age-appropriate devices and content. Nor have we done well to shield minors from real harm. It is not censorship to protect kids from pornography. It’s not close-minded to keep children from drag shows. Nor is any phobia involved with telling biological males they cannot play in girls sports (just days ago a biological male in California won two state titles in girls track).
No Mr. Governor, none of this is discrimination. It’s common sense. It’s good public policy too. The state legislature has successfully pushed back against ideas high on emotion but untethered from reality, despite Gov. Beshear’s vetoes over the past several years.
So can we move beyond empty words and feel-good phrases devoid of context? “Pride” has been celebrated for decades, but it’s delivered nothing but disappointment. After all, it is the first of the seven deadly sins and will go to great lengths to justify and defend itself. Cancelling those who object to gender ideology like former U of L professor Dr. Allan Josephson, has no place in civil society.
There are better, more important things to celebrate. Consider Fidelity Month, the brainchild of Princeton law professor and author Robert P. George. George says “it’s a positive, grassroots movement to heal division and restore unity in our nation. It celebrates June as a season of recommitment to God, our spouses and families, our communities, and country.” Fidelity is an ideal that is other-centered and self-giving. On the other hand, Pride centers itself on the notion of self identity and is ultimately self-consuming, instead of life-giving.
Celebrating pride is really only possible by severing one’s relationship with God. The profound but simple doctrine of the image of God or the imago Dei is what affords every human being incredible dignity and value. Male and female is defined by God at conception. The Creator makes the rules, tells us who we are, and cares deeply about every one of us. It’s a package deal, and our children need to hear this. The Identity Project is the first step. Celebrating Fidelity Month is the next. Both are core goods that strengthen the human condition and will lead to a healthy society.
Would you sign on to this proclamation Mr. Governor?