by Michael P. Tremoglie
On June 1, 2023, Lower Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania will raise the Pride Flag. In what sounds like a solemn ceremony, students will speak about the Pride Flag’s personal significance to them. Politicians, civic leaders and religious leaders will also show their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
So Lower Gwynedd Township, one of the oldest townships in Montgomery County wants to celebrate a certain lifestyle. They will permit the LGBTQ community to display a flag that represents the pride a group of people has for their sexual orientation: homosexual, bisexual, transexual and others. So what is sexual orientation? According to the website of Planned Parenthood, sexual orientation is defined as: “who you’re attracted to and want to have relationships with.”
So in summation, this township is expressing the viewpoint that people should be proud of to whom they are sexually, physically, and emotionally attracted. Different strokes for different folks, as they used to say in my youth. But is sexual attraction and the concomitant lifestyle to be saluted? I do not think so. If so, how about memorializing polygamy (imagine what that flag would be)? What about polyamory – does it deserve its own month? Perhaps – it has quite a few practitioners in Brooklyn NY.
But the real question is, if Lower Gwynedd Township permits the display of a viewpoint observing sexual behavior, will it permit the display of other viewpoints?
For example, if a group of people wanted to display a Christian flag honoring the importance of Christianity in the development of democracy and republican government in Western civilization, will the township deny it on the basis of an ignorant misinterpretation of the First Amendment? They could even invite, civic, religious and LGBTQ leaders to attend.
After all, religious displays on public property are not the bastard offspring of free speech rights prohibited by an establishment of a religion. The Supreme Court affords religious expression the constitutional protection it deserves.
A 2022 Supreme Court case, Shurtleff v. Boston, affirmed this. The court ruled that religious speech or symbols displayed by private parties cannot be suppressed or excluded because they are religious. In this instance, the city of Boston denied a request to display a “Christian” flag on a flagpole that has been used to display other flags. The court’s opinion was that a private party displaying its religious flag on Boston’s flagpole does not violate the First Amendment.
Government should not be promoting one viewpoint or one lifestyle simply because one group or lifestyle sways the politicians who run the government. There is nothing objectionable about gay pride in and of itself. What is objectionable is the imposition and promulgation of this lifestyle and morality on others by those who object to others’ morality imposed on them. Furthermore, violence and hate have been associated with the LGBTQ movement. Here are some recent examples (Courtesy of the Catholic League):
March 2023 — Three King County (WA) Sheriff’s Deputies served an eviction notice on transsexual activist Nathan Stolsig. He opened fire on the deputies striking one. He then took his own life. Stolstig went by the name Eucytus, was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, the same group as Democratic Party Congressional Representatives Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Rashida Tailib, Cori Bush, Jamal Bowman, Greg Casar and Shri Thanedar. He was also affiliated with Antifa.
March 2023 — Transexual Audrey Hale, killed six people, including three nine-year-old students at the Covenant Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee. Local police confirmed the attack was targeted. There is strong reason to believe Hale’s transgender identity played a part in attacking the Christian school. Hale’s manifesto has yet to be released. Many LGBT groups have been calling for the manifesto to be withheld.
April 2023 — Etsy, the popular e-commerce site, sells merchandise that promotes violent transgender rhetoric. One such item is a “Progress Pride” flag with an AK-47 assault rifle superimposed on it and the caption “ARMED QUEERS BASH BACK.” A sweatshirt reads, “Respect my pronouns or yours will be was/were.” Meanwhile, a t-shirt displays a picture of three daggers and the words “Protect Trans Kids.” A sticker of a cat holding a knife reads, “Respect my gender pronouns or I will identify as a problem.” Another sticker of a sword features the phrase, “Respect my pronouns or die by my sword.”
April 2023 — San Francisco State University students tried to silence a speech by NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines. A mob of transgender activists stormed the stage, they turned out the lights and a man in a dress punched her several times in the head. Gaines was trapped for three hours in an empty classroom surrounded by transgender activists.
If governments permit the commemoration of one group’s group way of life – especially one whose members have themselves engaged in violence and hate – then others should also be permitted to commemorate their way of life as well.
So rally ‘round the flag, Lower Gwynedd Township Christians.
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Michael Tremoglie is a writer and former Philadelphia police officer with a master’s degree in criminal justice from Saint Joseph’s University.
Photo “Pride Flags” by naeimasgary.
