Pride Month

A dear friend and fraternity brother of mine has asked me where I get my ideas for my posts.  I told him that most of the time a thought just pops into my head, and I write.  But today’s post was inspired by Dennis Prager, a voice of reason in an increasingly unreasonable world, and a man whom I’ve been reading for years, and with June being “Pride Month” I took my cue from a recent article of his.

The noun ‘pride’ is defined by Merriam-Webster as reasonable self-esteem or confidence and satisfaction in oneself, which may be related to one’s own abilities or achievements, or the positive characteristics of friends, family, organization, or one’s country.  Meanwhile, the adjective ‘proud’ is defined as the feeling of deep pleasure of satisfaction as a result of one’s own achievements or qualities of someone with whom one is closely associated with.

The common denominator for feeling a sense of pride or of being proud is accomplishment, achievement, or the possession of a hard-earned skill.  And as such, I’ll readily admit to being proud to have earned the wings of a Naval Aviator and even more proud of my daughter who through hard work and perseverance was awarded an Emmy by the Television Academy.  Pride in a worthy accomplishment is as natural as sunshine.

Meanwhile, June is the beginning of Pride Month, a month that’s dedicated to celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender pride.  But this is where I get confused because an individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, and orientation are simply accidents of birth and not something anyone should get credit for, much less demand that others celebrate.  And if something is an accident of birth requiring absolutely no effort whatsoever on the part of the individual what right does a group have to demand that others celebrate something that the individual had nothing to do with?

~ Danger in Groupthink ~

Let’s take the 60’s phrase “black is beautiful” for example.  I recall when the phrase first appeared in the lexicon; I also recall my reaction to it.  Somehow, I knew this was not a good thing.  I mean how can a race be beautiful?  Isn’t the idea of a beautiful race itself racist?  And how different is that from 1930s Germany and the “Master Race?”

Ah, you say, but that was different, that was militaristic.  Yes, it was, but didn’t black is beautiful morph into “black power,” a phrase frequently accompanied with a raised clenched fist?  And those who questioned the movement, were given one of two answers: After being put down for so many years, blacks needed to bolster their self-image; and since blacks, especially black women had suffered greatly because white beauty was the normative standard of physical beauty making “black is beautiful” a much-needed corrective.

Both were understandable explanations.  However, this cultural movement soon spawned another movement as women joined the group solidarity bandwagon with “girl power”; “I am woman, hear me roar”; “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle”; “Any job a man can do, a woman can do better” and other puerile celebrations of “sisterhood,” a term which applied only to women who shared feminist views.  However, women who didn’t share the same leftist views were not just gender-traitors; they weren’t even women. As Ms. Magazine founder Gloria Steinem famously called conservative Texas Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison a “female impersonator.”

~ A Bridge Too Far ~

Today it seems no matter where we look, every company, (e.g., Bud Light & Dylan Mulvaney) every professional sports team (e.g., the LA Dodgers & the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence), every Democratic politician, the armed forces and every American embassy around the world is expected to celebrate Pride Night, Pride Week, Pride Month and in effect, year-round LGBTQ Pride.

But what specifically is the LGBTQ movement proud of?  What accomplishment is involved in being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans?  The very essence of the LGBTQ movement is that the individual does not choose one’s race, sexual orientation, or sexual identity and we’re told that even trans is built into one’s nature.  All of which begs the question that if there is no choice or effort involved, let alone moral accomplishment, what is it exactly that we’re expected to celebrate?

Meanwhile, the LGBTQ movement is doing everything possible to bludgeon every institution into celebrating Pride Days, Nights, Weeks, and Months.  But this shouldn’t really surprise us because that’s totalitarian nature of every left-wing movement that’s ever existed.  It’s not enough for society at large to offer basic human respect to LGBTQ individuals.  Rather we must all celebrate lesbianism, male homosexuality, the transgendered and queers because as noted, left-wing movements are never about tolerance, they’re about coerced conformity.  No, it’s not the Reichsparteitagsgelände of mid-1930s Germany, but the ethos is the same.

~ Legitimate Pride ~

As an aside, there have been a total 975 Nobel Laureates since the Prize has been awarded, of which 224 were Jews, but can you imagine the fascist left demanding even a Jewish Pride minute, much less a day, week, or month?  Neither can I.  But regardless of accomplishment or the dearth thereof, the drumbeat from the media about LGBTQ pride continues.

We cannot allow ourselves to be cowed into celebrating 11-year-old girls who have their breasts removed or the therapists and physicians who facilitate it.  Nor should we celebrate men dressing as women and prancing in front of 6-year-olds.  And frankly if a medical practitioner used the term “birthing person” instead of “pregnant woman” in my presence, it would be a cold day in you know where before I saw that doc again.

Everyone regardless of race, sex, or orientation deserves respect as human beings, and should be feted when appropriate.  I think it’s tragic when a male thinks that he’s a female or when a female thinks she’s a male.  And while I respect an individual’s right to that position, please don’t ask me to celebrate it.

Quote of the day:  “You can’t love someone into a state of mental health” – Harold Ramis