Why do we need such a thing as LGBTIQ Pride Month?

In 1967, two years before the Stonewall Rebellion, Mike Wallace said this on 60 Minutes: "The dilemma of the homosexual: told by the medical profession he is sick; by the law that he's a criminal; shunned by employers, rejected by heterosexual society. Incapable of a fulfilling relationship with a woman, or for that matter, with a man. At the center of his life, he remains anonymous. A displaced person. An outsider."

In 1986 then-Cardinal Ratzinger (who is now Pope Benedict XVI) published a document titled "On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons." The letter referred to homosexual orientation as an "intrinsic moral evil." After the document was published, many bishops ruled that Dignity (a group of Catholics that works for respect and justice for all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons) could no longer use church facilities to meet.

It was still illegal in NY in 1991 to run a business that catered to homosexuals, just as it had been in 1969 at the time of the Stonewall Rebellion. I don't know if the law's still on the books today.

In 2005, after his arrest for, among other violence, allegedly bombing a nightclub with mostly lesbian patrons, Eric Rudolph said, "Any conscientious individual afflicted with homosexuality should acknowledge that a healthy society requires a model of sexual behavior to be held up and maintained without assault. Like other humans suffering from various disabilities, homosexuals should not attempt to infect the rest of society with their particular illness."

As of May 18, 2005, on their web site, White Aryan Resistance (which has games on its web site entitled "Shoot the fags before they rape you" and "Don't let those spics cross our border," as well as cartoons divided into sections called "Niggers, Gooks, Beaners, ZOG..." ) says, "...Homosexuals must be encouraged to separate their lifestyles from the community at large. Homosexuality must not be taught as a positive lifestyle ... The best that Aryan heterosexual society can do is to limit their collective influence and keep the closet door shut..."

As of May 18, 2005, Peter Sprigg is quoted on the Family Research Council web site, saying, "[An] element of the homosexual agenda is to get "sexual orientation" added to the categories of protection under anti-discrimination codes in private organizations and under civil rights laws in the public sector. In fact, homosexuals should and already do have all of the same rights under the law as any other citizen, such as the right to vote, the right of free speech, and the right to trial by jury. Those rights are truly "civil" or political in nature, and the exercise of them does nothing to infringe on anyone else's freedom. However, adding "sexual orientation" to civil rights laws governing private employment and housing does infringe on the rights of others--namely, the normal right of employers and landlords to make economic decisions based on their own best judgment. Governments normally interfere with such economic freedom only when the alleged "discrimination" is based on characteristics that are inborn, involuntary, immutable, and innocuous, such as race." [NOTE from Beth Reis, co-chair, SAFE SCHOOLS COALITION: Apparently Mr. Sprigg doesn't realize that most non-discrimination laws also prohibit firing someone for her religious beliefs ... which are neither inborn, involuntary, immutable nor, obviously, innocuous.]

As of May 18, 2005, Richard G. Howe is quoted on the American Family Association web site, saying, "Homosexuality is being forced upon us through legislation, taught to our children in school and promoted in the powerful arts/entertainment complex. If it is true that homosexuality has the destructive effects on the individual and society that many believe, then it behooves us to know our enemy and forestall any further advance of homosexuality by understanding what it is, what the homosexual community is up to, and how to answer their arguments in the open marketplace of ideas."
[NOTE from Beth Reis, co-chair, SAFE SCHOOLS COALITION: Mr. Howe doesn't realize, I think just how few teachers feel that they'd be supported by their administrations if they even spoke up in response to anti-gay bullying, no less taught in affirming ways about the LGBT rights movement or even two-mama families. The ranks of brave teachers have grown in the 17 years since the Safe Schools Coalition came into being, but they are still a small minority in most parts of the United States.]

The Safe Schools Coalition is a public-private partnership of 80+ organizations (government agencies, schools, community agencies, churches, youth/student groups, gay/lesbian groups, human rights groups) and 400+ individuals working to help schools become safe places where every family can belong, where every educator can teach, and where every child can learn, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Safe Schools' website: http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org