Why the LGBT community still needs Pride

It seems like much of the South has declared war on their LGBT communities. Citing “religious freedom” North Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee state legislatures all introduced legislation that singles out the LGBT community to make it legal to discriminate against them. While it was nice to see Louisiana’s Governor bucking that trend by proactively signing an executive order to provide more protections for their LGBT community earlier this week it would be naive not to assume more discriminatory legislation will be forthcoming.

It seems like the South has declared war on the LGBT community

April 11, 2016 Tennessee state legislators passed a bill that could jeopardize access to mental health treatment for LGBT individuals – it is still working its way through the state house.

April 5, 2016 Mississippi’s Governor signed House Bill 1523 into law, under the pretense of ‘religious freedom’, legalizing discrimination in that state against the LGBT community.

March 28, 2016 Georgia Governor vetoes anti-LGBT legislation after facing growing criticism by the business and entertainment community.

March 23, 2016 North Carolina signed a vindictive law that made local ordinances that protected LGBT individuals null and void and legalized discrimination targeted at the LGBT community legal.

Boston Pride 2016 theme strikes the right note in response to anti-LGBT legislation

I have no doubt that several if not all of the above legislation will be challenged in the courts and shall be found unconstitutional but in the interim the climate in the South seems to be getting more toxic for our community. In about 6-weeks Pride Season will begin and many cities in the South will hold their annual celebrations. We would be wise to remember the political clout Pride has, bringing together our beautifully diverse community.

In light of the rash of discriminatory legislation, think about using the upcoming season of Pride to organize and respond to parade of hateful legislation.