For the first time, Utah Governor Spencer Cox did not declare June as Pride Month.
Instead, Cox declared June 2024 as “Bridge Building Month” and shared a copy of your statement on the social media platform
“This year, we want to focus even more on that core message of building bridges and respect, for everyone in our state and throughout this month,” her post continued, “with an additional focus on those in our community who are LGBTQ and Possible.” who have felt like they don’t belong here in Utah.”
While statements of the past were intended to be gestures of kindness and our shared humanity, they have become a lightning rod to generate more division and pain. This year, we want to focus even more on that core message of building bridges and respect, for everyone in our… pic.twitter.com/n3nZE4xiWR
— Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) June 1, 2024
The statement comes amid a heated Republican primary race for Utah governor. In April, Cox was greeted with boos when he took the stage at the Republican State Nominating Convention, where state Rep. Phil Lyman, the GOP’s primary opponent, ultimately won 67.5% of the delegate votes.
“Maybe you’re booing me because you hate that I signed the biggest tax cut in Utah history. Maybe you hate that he signed it into constitutional law. Maybe you hate that we are done with CRT, DEI and ESG,” Cox said at the event. “Or maybe you hate that I don’t hate enough.”
Cox has since been criticized for suggesting that the delegates’ taunting was motivated by hate. Lyman has also criticized Cox for past actions she considers friendly to the LGBTQ+ community, including Cox’s decision in 2022 to veto a bill designed to ban transgender girls from participating in school sports that match their gender identity. . The Legislature voted to override her veto.
This year, Lyman also introduced a bill to ban transgender people from using public bathrooms, locker rooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
Pride Isn’t Just About Building Bridges
In contrast, the Utah House Democratic Caucus on Saturday issued a statement reaffirming its support for LGBTQ+ rights and honoring Pride Month as a celebration of the love, acceptance and understanding that unites all individuals.
Utah Pride Center Executive Director Chad Call said in a statement Saturday that bridges “are an important part of infrastructure around the world,” taking years and resources to build, “or they can be simple bridges that cross small obstacles”. “
“But in any case, the functionality of a bridge is to move people from one place to another, over what would otherwise be an insurmountable obstacle,” Call continued. “That said, we invite our elected government officials to do more than just work to build the bridge, we invite them, or rather NEED them, to cross the bridge.”
Call went on to say that Cox’s proclamation “does not address the real meaning of this month for our community.”
“June is Pride Month, a time when we celebrate our identities, our history and our resilience,” Call said. “Pride is not simply about building bridges; “It is about recognizing and honoring the strength and unity of a marginalized community that has endured and continues to endure significant challenges.”
Call on Saturday invited anyone who is unsure why recognizing June as Pride Month is “crucial” to join the Utah Pride Center at the Utah Pride Festival. “Come see for yourself this beautiful and radiant community that celebrates its belonging, its identity and its pride,” the statement concludes.
However, Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams on Saturday thanked the governor for his “Building Bridges” statement.
“In politically divided times, the easy impulse is to distance ourselves from each other and become suspicious,” Williams wrote in a post on X. “The challenge is to keep interacting, especially when it’s difficult. Ultimately, what LGBTQ families are looking for is love, belonging, and equal protection under the law.”
Past Pride Month Statements
Cox’s first two Pride Month statements in 2021 and 2022 were identical, calling on the state to be more inclusive and accepting of LGBTQ+ people.
He noted that members of the LGBTQ+ community can experience higher rates of mental health issues and urged Utahns to provide LGBTQ+ people with “support, respect, understanding and friendship.”
In Utah, we strive to maintain a culture of hope, love, understanding and respect by celebrating our common humanity.
This #PRIDE Month, let’s all work to be more inclusive and accepting of LGBTQ+ members of our community.#Come on #OneUtah pic.twitter.com/Y88Xp18l69
— Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) June 1, 2022
However, last year, Cox did not use the term “LGBTQ+” at all in his Pride Month statement. Instead, the noticeably shorter statement noted that June is commonly recognized as Pride Month and that the state is home to many groups that cultivate “love for all.”
That declaration 2023 sparked backlash from both sides of the political spectrum, with some calling it “shameful” and “disgusting” on social media, and others calling the statement ironic, since Cox signed legislation in January 2023 banning health care that is gender affirming for transgender youth.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday about his “Building Bridges” statement and its change in language in recent years.
When Cox vetoed a ban on sports for transgender girls in 2022, she said at the time that she always tries to “err on the side of kindness, mercy and compassion,” citing that of the approximately 75,000 children who participate in sports in the Utah high schools, Among them were only four transgender children.
“Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few,” Cox said in a 2022 letter to state legislative leaders. “I don’t understand what they’re going through or why they feel this way. But I want them to live. And all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can significantly reduce suicidality.”
In a live conversation with The Washington Post in February 2023, Cox also called himself “an ally of the LGBTQ community.”
“We have excellent relationships, I am very close to the defenders of our state,” he said.
This year, Cox signed Lyman’s transgender bathroom ban bill into law on Jan. 30, 11 days into the legislative session.
In February, during an event to promote her “Disagree Better” initiative in Washington, D.C., Cox called gender-affirming medical care for transgender people “gender mutilation surgery.” She also claimed that “no one” in Utah has taken their own life as a result of the state’s ban on such care for transgender youth.
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