June was declared “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Pride Month” in a White House proclamation made notable by accusing the majority of Americans of mounting “relentless attacks” on “members of the LGBTQI+ community — especially people of color and trans people.”
The proclamation further declared, without offering a shred of evidence or real-life examples backed with credible evidence, that “these unconscionable attacks have left countless LGBTQI+ families in fear and pain.”
In other words, the presidential proclamation was simply the latest step in the “Progressive” Left’s ceaseless campaign from within federal and state government, the campuses and classrooms, corporate boardrooms, and the Establishment Media to degrade, denounce and discredit the majority of Americans as evil, murderous bigots, homophobes, and ignorant zealots.
There are relentless attacks against certain classes of people in this country, but, as is so often the case with virtually any claim against America by the Left, the opposite of what they argue is invariably true.
The actual relentless attacks target anybody and everybody who dares to question in even the slightest degree any aspect of the Left’s narrative that the American people and their most cherished institutions are fundamentally and irretrievably racist, bigoted, and utterly without redeeming value.
Unlike the White House Pride Month proclamation, I offer real-world examples of decent people whose lives have been turned upside down by emotional and spiritual pain, financial destitution, unending litigation, and genuine fear for their physical safety and lives, all because they take seriously the Constitution’s guarantees of their right to think and speak their minds as Americans.
Let’s begin with Colorado website artist Lorie Smith, whose case will be heard later this year by the U.S. Supreme Court. Smith has received multiple death threats, as have members of her family and clients of her design firm, all because she refuses to speak the Left’s LGBTQ narrative because it conflicts with her most deeply held principles and faith.
Smith is represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the Arizona-based public interest law firm that has won a dozen major Supreme Court cases involving First Amendment and Freedom of Religion issues.
As I reported in May, Smith described what she has experienced:
“I have received phone calls, I’ve had mail show up at my home, I have had people wish me really vile things, things that should not be repeated, threats of bodily harm, some really vile things.”
Asked if she feared for her life, Smith said: “Of course. When you hear the things that I’ve heard, it’s terrifying. It definitely makes your skin crawl and the hair on your back stand up. My clients have been harassed, and I love all of them dearly. They’ve received threats, as well as ultimatums, which has been difficult.”
Then there’s Aaron and Melissa Klein, the Oregon couple that owns “Sweet Cakes by Melissa.” When they declined to create a cake bearing a message of endorsement for same-sex marriage, Oregon officials fined the Kleins $135,000.
What has followed, among much else, is debilitating litigation as they seek their day in court, represented by First Liberty Institute (FLI), the Texas-based public interest law firm that, like ADF, specializes in First Amendment/Religious Freedom cases.
The Kleins also face the loss of their chosen livelihood, a point put with great force and clarity by First Liberty in an Amicus Brief filed on their behalf in Smith’s case at the High Court:
“The state of Oregon imposed a financially devastating $135,000 fine — plus a gag order — on the Kleins for declining to create a custom wedding cake for a same-sex wedding. As a result, the Kleins were forced to shut down their family-owned business, have undergone almost a decade of litigation defending their religious decision, and have suffered personal attacks, property vandalism, and death threats against themselves and their five children. No one should be subjected to such consequences for simply wishing to stay silent.”
No First Amendment freedom — of speech, religion, petition, or assembly — can long survive when the Progressive Left, including the current president of the United States, is able to use the deadly force of government to force anybody to speak only approved messages.
Related: Pride Is Still a Sin and the Rainbow Still Belongs to God
Then there is Emily Mais, a former Virginia public school administrator who committed the unpardonable sin of questioning whether an individual’s skin color says anything at all about the content of their character.
During mandatory “anti-racism” training based on Critical Race Theory — the basic point of which is that skin color is the decisive factor in shaping how society is organized and the individual relates to it — Mais became increasingly troubled by the portrayal of white Americans as irretrievably racist, and that Americans of color are correspondingly incapable of being racist.
Kate Anderson, ADF Senior Counsel working with Mais, describes the bottom line:
“Instead of training faculty members to embrace students of all races, Albemarle County school officials are using a curriculum that promotes racial discrimination. The training sets up a classic Catch-22:
“It encourages all staff members to ‘speak their truth,’ but when a white person like Emily raises concerns about the divisive content, she is deemed a racist in need of further ‘anti-racism’ instruction. Emily believes every person is made in the image of God and entitled to equal treatment and respect and refuses to participate in using harmful ideology to indoctrinate students, teachers, or staff.”
Mais is now suing the Albermarle County Public School system hoping to have her First Amendment right to uphold in public and in her profession her belief in the inherent rights and dignity of all Americans, regardless of their skin color.
Don’t expect any Biden White House proclamations celebrating the bravery, grit, and faith of Lorie Smith, Aaron and Melissa Klein, and Emily Mais.
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