Today is the first day of June, Governor Cox just signed his yearly declaration that June will be Pride Month in Utah. He said it was a way to help foster a culture of hope, understanding, love, dignity and respect, and I agree that we should do those things, but I disagree with having a state sanctioned Pride Month. I disagree with it in the same way that I disagree with flying the pride flag at my house or in our schools to show our love and understanding to LGBTQ+ people everywhere.

At a minimum the pride flag and pride month represent, to me at least, not a people, but a movement that has some very problematic aspects to it. And endorsing those symbols feels to me more like an endorsement of that movement and what it stands for, more that an endorsement of loving the people that make up that movement.

We need to be able to say, "We love and respect and understand you" without saying "We endorse how you are living your life and believe that it is a good life choice." Because I don't believe it is a good life choice, I can't in good conscience say that it will be a benefit to people to live that kind of life style.

Ultimately how you want to express your love and respect is up to you. But I would strongly encourage us to consider other ways that we can foster that kind of culture without embracing the symbols of the LGBTQ+ movement.