President Trump has “no plans” to issue a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month or dedicate it to any other group or cause, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
“There are no plans for a proclamation for the month of June,” Leavitt said during a media briefing at the White House, “but I can tell you this president is very proud to be a president for all Americans, regardless of race, religion or creed.”
Trump declined to issue proclamations recognizing Pride Month throughout his first term, though he briefly acknowledged it on social media in 2019 while touting his administration’s efforts to decriminalize homosexuality worldwide, the first Republican president to do so.
“As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation,” Trump wrote on the social platform X, then Twitter, six years ago. “My Administration has launched a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality and invite all nations to join us in this effort!”
Former President Clinton, a Democrat, issued the first presidential proclamation designating June “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month” in 1999. A declaration issued in 2011 by former President Obama expanded the scope to include bisexual and transgender people.
The White House’s decision comes amid a broader backlash against Pride and a political climate that is increasingly hostile to the LGBTQ community, particularly transgender people.
Opponents of LGBTQ rights this week criticized U.S. companies that publicly acknowledged Pride with social media posts or by temporarily changing the colors of their corporate logos. A group of congressional Republicans accused PBS of “grooming” children after “Sesame Street,” one of the nonprofit TV network’s flagship programs, shared a post recognizing Pride Month on Sunday.
Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.), one of the GOP House members to criticize PBS and “Sesame Street,” introduced a resolution Tuesday declaring June “Family Month,” which she said would “reject the lie of ‘Pride’ and instead honor God’s timeless and perfect design.”
“The American family is under relentless attack from a radical leftist agenda that seeks to erase truth, redefine marriage and confuse our children,” Miller told the Daily Wire, a conservative news outlet, in an interview published Tuesday.
On Monday, the Education Department said it was declaring June “Title IX Month,” after the 1972 law against sex discrimination that the Trump administration has argued prohibits transgender women and girls from competing on female school sports teams.
Trump’s decision not to formally recognize Pride Month also comes as WorldPride, the international LGBTQ Pride event, takes place this month in Washington.
