The Hamilton County Republican Party believes every life deserves dignity and respect. We also support speaking truth in love. As such, we strongly believe it is time to move away from the overemphasis on identity-based politics, especially because they divide and hurt us more than unite and help us.
Mayor Kelly’s decision to light up City Hall for Pride Month may seem like a harmless gesture of inclusion, but he is aligning our non-partisan city government with an agenda that has become increasingly political, aggressive and intolerant of differing views. Pride Month has become a vehicle for Democrats’ efforts to reshape institutions, sexualize childhood and shut down debate.
Nationwide, we are seeing corporations and communities step back from Pride campaigns, not out of hate, but out of exhaustion and concern. People are tired of being told their traditional norms make them bigots, or that children must be exposed to adult ideology.
This year, while San Francisco’s Pride theme is “Queer Joy is Resistance” and New York Pride theme is “Rise Up: Pride in Protest”, major corporations are not on board. Anheuser-Busch has ended its sponsorship of PrideFest in its hometown of St. Louis. Nissan and PepsiCo pulled their funding from NYC Pride this year. Business executives are realizing that what began as a gesture of goodwill has become politicized, weaponized and out of step with the values of everyday Americans.
Mayor Kelly’s display sends a message – not of neutrality – but of alignment with a radical political agenda. It may win applause from local Democrats, but alienates anyone who is tired of seeing sexuality turned into a public spectacle, often especially targeted at our children.
