Crossroads -- Pride month news may get more complex

Looking forward to 2025 and possible trends with corporate America's holy season

Did everyone in the religious congregation of your choice have a good “Fidelity Month”?

That’s a joke, of course. There were way more churches in America that celebrated Pride Month than those that were even aware that “Fidelity Month” exists. And Pride is totally where it’s at, when it comes to the Powers that Be of corporate America, Big Tech, Hollywood, mainstream news and the vast majority of government officials from sea to shining sea.

Meanwhile, did the Southern Baptist Convention endorse “Fidelity Month”? How about the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? If my online searches missed something from those ecclesiastical giants, please let me know.

Why bring this up? During this week’s “Crossroads” podcast, host Todd Wilken and I discussed one or two key examples of Pride coverage in the mainstream press and looked ahead to possible news hooks in the future. This is important, since Google News yielded a mere 100,000+ 2024 Pride Month stories, on the day I did that search (with “Pride Month” as the key term, not the more flexible “Pride”).

Meanwhile, I just did a Google News search for “Fidelity Month” and found 10 stories, with zero from mainstream news sources (there was one op-ed at Deseret News).

What is “Fidelity Month,” anyway? Last year, The National Catholic Register did ask that question to the creator of that concept — Robert P. George, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.

I declared June to be Fidelity Month, by the authority vested in me by absolutely no one. But I did feel moved to find an occasion for Americans of all faiths and shades of belief to come together to reaffirm and rededicate ourselves to some very basic core values that have always been points of unity and sources of strength in this exceptionally pluralistic society. 

Recent polling data put out by The Wall Street Journal showed that there has been a very precipitous drop in Americans’ understanding of the importance of faith, of family, of patriotism. And I cannot help but draw the inference that this drop is both a cause and an effect of our current social ills: crime and delinquency, drugs, alienation, failure of family formation and family disintegration. Loneliness is reaching epidemic proportions. 

There is, apparently, a special “Fidelity Month” prayer. This is from the website of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco:

Almighty and merciful Lord, we praise You and thank You for all You have given us in Your great and unmerited generosity. Please help us to remember who we are, and Whose we are. Grant us the grace to unite as one people in turning back to You with all of our hearts, with all of our souls, and with all of our minds. Cleanse us of all that separates us from You, and help us to cultivate the virtues we need this day and always, so that we may grow in fidelity to You – Who are always faithful – and to our spouses and families, and to our communities and country, and thereby live in accordance with Your holy will. In Your boundless mercy and lovingkindness, Lord, please heal and restore our land.

Am I suggesting that “Fidelity Month” is an important mainstream news story?

Not really. At this point, it’s hard to imagine any mainstream newsroom leader who would be interested in that topic, even with someone as articulate and newsworthy as George as the main source.

These days, it’s hard to imagine mainstream journalists even considering offering alternative viewpoints in news reports such as this USA Today offering (if this is, in fact, an actual news story): “Queer — and religious: How LGBTQ+ youths are embracing their faith.”

As I read that long report, built with anecdotes and material from one activist group, I kept waiting for solid, factual information about this trend from doctrinally liberal religious groups — such as the Episcopal Church and most of the other “seven sisters” of the mainline. Surely liberal Christian leaders have statistics about how many LGBTQ+ believers are flocking into their pews?

My final dose of Pride Month reading did yield glimpses of other possible news trends in 2025 and beyond, which we discussed in the podcast. Here is video about one hot story that the progressives at Snopes.com have decided is real, perhaps in multiple blue zip codes.

Also, here is another important story (safe for viewing at work) produced, with a rather perturbed tone, by CBS News: “Major brands scaled back Pride Month campaigns in 2024. Here's why that matters.” Consider this chunk of that, with some interesting red America vs. blue America themes:

At Target, which had been releasing Pride-themed collections for more than a decade, some customers took aim at a swimsuit labeled "tuck-friendly" that was intended to be trans-inclusive. Social media users claimed the swimsuit was designed for children, even though Target only sold it in adult sizes. For Bud Light, a longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, a collaboration with trans social media star Dylan Mulvaney stoked conservative fury.

What began as disapproval from loud and impassioned fringe groups on the far right quickly spiraled into a wider crusade that at one point involved some Republican leaders, commentators and even some celebrities. Along with fierce calls for boycotts against both companies, Target said customers angered by the Pride collection had knocked over displays in some of its stores and gone so far as to threaten employees. In a viral video, one customer was seen confronting a Target worker over the brand's "Satanic Pride propaganda."

Target initially responded to the backlash by moving Pride collections to the backs of its stores in several Southern states, while Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth addressed the controversy indirectly in a statement that said the company "never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people." Leading LGBTQ organizations accused the brands of caving to conservative pressure at the expense of queer and trans people, in a moment where the allyship those companies claimed to value was being put to the test.

What if CBS editors had changed “stores in several Southern states” to “stores in several Bible Belt states”?

Just thinking. There could be a few interesting stories there, comparing what is happening in different states.

Enjoy the podcast and, please, pass it along to others.