The Freedom From Religion Foundation is castigating a coordinated effort that several conservative states have launched to undermine Pride Month.

Governors in Florida, Indiana, Alabama and Utah, among other states, have, respectively, issued proclamations declaring June to be “Faith and Family Month,” “Nuclear Family Month,” “Strong Families Month” or “Fidelity Month.” While disingenuously framed as celebrations of families and faith, these governmental proclamations clearly are intended as a rebuke to Pride Month and its recognition of LGBTQ+ Americans.

“These proclamations are not about celebrating families,” says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. “They are about using government authority to elevate a particular religious and political vision of family while signaling that LGBTQ-plus families, single-parent families, blended families and nonreligious Americans are somehow less worthy of recognition.”

The most blatant example is Indiana Gov. Mike Braun’s proclamation of June as “Nuclear Family Month,” which defines the family as “one husband, one wife, and any children.” The proclamation calls this “God’s design for the family structure” and “the foundation of society since the creation of the world.” Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith embraced the culture-war motivation behind the proclamation, posting an illustrated version online proclaiming, “Take back the rainbow!”

Tennessee similarly designated June as “Nuclear Family Month,” declaring that the nuclear family is “God’s perfect design for humanity” and warning that it is “under attack.” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox quietly declared June “Fidelity Month,” citing faith, family and patriotism and calling for Americans to “rededicate” themselves to those values. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis designated June “Faith and Family Month,” emphasizing Christianity’s role in American society and encouraging faith-centered celebrations throughout the month. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey proclaimed June “Strong Families Month,” praising households led by “a father and a mother” and suggesting that nontraditional families are responsible for various social problems.

The common thread running through these proclamations is the assumption that the government should endorse a particular religion-suffused view of family life.

“The government has no business declaring that any family structure is ‘God’s preferred arrangement,’” Gaylor says. “Public officials should not use the machinery of the state to promote their private religious beliefs about marriage, sexuality and gender. This not only violates the spirit of state/church separation, but excludes millions of good Americans, whether LGBTQ+ or those among the 29 percent of adult Americans who are nonreligious, from full civic belonging.”

FFRF notes that these proclamations are part of a broader Christian nationalist movement seeking to redefine American identity in explicitly religious terms. Increasingly, extremist political leaders are using government proclamations, legislation and public institutions to advance the notion that America is fundamentally Christian, that traditional gender roles are divinely mandated and that LGBTQ+ equality represents a threat to society.

Pride Month exists because LGBTQ+ Americans spent generations facing criminalization, discrimination, family rejection and government hostility. Yet rather than acknowledging that history, some elected officials are using June to celebrate the very institutions and belief systems that were often used to justify that discrimination.

FFRF emphasizes that families come in many forms. They include married or unmarried couples, single parents, adoptive families, grandparents raising grandchildren, blended families, as well as LGBTQ+ families. A secular government serves all of them equally.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With about 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.

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