Wyoming U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman is among the sponsors of a new Republican-backed bill that would change the designation of June from “Pride Month” to “Family Month.”
The measure, introduced last week by Rep. Mary Miller, R-Illinois, would recognize “the traditional nuclear family” and highlight the way “mothers and fathers play a crucial and irreplaceable role in the upbringing of their children.”
The bill also would remove the recognition of an annual federal Pride Month celebrated by the LGBTQ community in June.
Former Democratic President Bill Clinton was the first to proclaim Pride Month officially in 1999. Since, Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden followed suit, while Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump have not.
“Americans are inundated with perverse Pride Month displays and events throughout the month of June that denigrate the nuclear family,” the bill reads. “The decline of marriage and family has corresponded to a rise in crime, drug abuseand other social ills.
“Our survival as a country and civilization depends on the continuation of traditional marriage and family.”
Among those also backing the bill are Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, Claudia Tenney, R-New York, and Glenn Grothman, R-Wisconsin.
Hageman’s office told Cowboy State Daily in a statement that making June Family Month would undo some of the social damage she says has been caused by liberal politics.
"The traditional family unit is the backbone of our society, which is why I joined Congresswoman Mary Miller to introduce a resolution declaring June to be ‘Family Month,’” Hageman’s statement reads. “This initiative reflects the sentiments of many Americans who believe that the left's woke agenda has undermined the fundamental values that have shaped our nation.
“It is time we go back to celebrating and supporting the traditional American family."
Pushback
ACLU of Wyoming told Cowboy State Daily that the Family Month legislation appears to overlook the way families can take many different forms.
“The ACLU believes that families come in many diverse forms, and all deserve respect and protection,” the group says in a statement. “Families are not limited to traditional definitions based solely on blood, marriage or legal ties. Instead, families are diverse and fluid.
“Our laws should reflect and protect all forms of loving and supportive relationships, not discriminate against non-traditional family forms."
Efforts to counter Pride Month have grown popular among conservatives, who see the designation as an encouragement of immoral behavior.
The U.S. Department of Education announced last week it would recognize June as “Title IX Month.” Its observance will “highlight actions taken to reverse the Biden administration’s legacy of undermining Title IX and announce additional actions to protect women in line with the true purpose of Title IX,” the department wrote in a press release.
The agency also said it would investigate the University of Wyoming for allegedly “allowing males to join and live in female-only intimate and communal spaces.”
That’s a reference to the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority’s fall 2022 induction of a transgender member, a move in which UW says it was not involved.
A National Issue
The dispute over what to call June abounds across the nation.
Mark Fitzpatrick, owner of Old State Saloon in Eagle, Idaho, made headlines in June 2024 for declaring it “Heterosexual Awesomeness Month.” The bar honored its heterosexual patrons by offering free “beer for breeders” and giving discounts to heterosexual couples and heterosexual women.
Fitzpatrick said he received death threats and was vandalized for his position, but decided to bring the promotion back this year anyway.
Jonathan Lange, Evanston-based Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor and columnist, told Cowboy State Daily the proposition to proclaim June “Family Month” matters “because the family is under attack in so many different ways, with children caught in the crossfire.”
Broken families are growing the “welfare state,” he said, adding that “the best, most effective social program known to history is a mother and father raising their child.”
Lange noted that while “Pride Month” was a presidential proclamation, “Family Month” — if it clears the Congress — would carry more force as a proclamation by an entity of government closer to the people.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
