Pride Isn’t a Threat: Why Celebrating Pride Doesn’t Diminish Anyone Else

By Quinn Bluffs

June is here, and so are the familiar arguments. Rainbow flags are up, Pride events are scheduled, and once again, social media is flooded with variations of the same question: “Why do they get a month?”

Some ask why June isn’t officially Veterans Month. Others say we should focus more on Men’s Mental Health instead. And still others go further, framing Pride as an aggressive, attention-seeking spectacle that overshadows more “serious” issues.

Here’s the truth: we can—and should—care about all of these things. But turning them into a competition helps no one.

What Pride Actually Is

Pride Month is not about elevating LGBTQIA+ people above others. It’s about recognizing a group of people who have historically been pushed into the margins, and who still face harm today. Pride began not as a party, but as a protest, after LGBTQIA+ patrons at the Stonewall Inn in New York fought back against routine police harassment in June 1969.

Over the years, it evolved into something broader: a time for visibility, celebration, and resilience. Pride is a reminder that LGBTQ+ people exist, contribute, love, serve, and deserve safety and dignity. It’s a time for joy, but also a time for advocacy, especially in light of the fact that dozens of anti-LGBTQIA+ bills have been introduced across the country this year alone.

Pride and Men’s Mental Health: Not Opposites

Another common refrain this time of year is, “Why are we celebrating Pride instead of focusing on Men’s Mental Health Month?”

Here’s a simple answer: we can do both.

In fact, June is Men’s Mental Health Month. It has been recognized as such for years. The problem isn’t that Pride is “stealing the spotlight”, it’s that mental health advocacy doesn’t get the year-round support it deserves. The solution isn’t to cancel Pride. The solution is to amplify men’s mental health work alongside it.

And let’s not forget: LGBTQ+ people are men. They’re also women, nonbinary, trans, veterans, parents, children, and neighbors. You can’t cleanly divide these communities without erasing someone’s identity. And no one benefits from that.

Veterans Deserve Better, And They Deserve Accuracy

There’s also a rising push—especially online—to claim that June should belong to veterans instead. But let’s be clear: veterans are already honored in two distinct, nationally recognized ways.

• May is Military Appreciation Month, including Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day.

• November 11th is Veterans Day, a federal holiday.

Suggesting that Pride somehow takes something away from veterans is both inaccurate and, frankly, insulting to the intelligence of those who have served. Veterans, like every other group, are not a monolith. Many are LGBTQIA+ themselves. Many support Pride. Many are also fighting for the mental health and medical care that should be at the center of those June conversations, instead of culture war distractions.

If we’re truly concerned about veterans, we should be protesting VA staff cuts, funding reductions, and inadequate mental health support. Not rainbow logos at Target.

This Isn’t Either/Or, It’s Both/And

Pride doesn’t need to compete with anyone else’s needs. We have room to honor veterans, advocate for men’s mental health, support food access, defend trans rights, and so much more.

The idea that acknowledging one group means disrespecting another is a manufactured outrage; a wedge driven by people who profit from division and fear.

We don’t have to fall for it.

Here in Quincy and across the country, our communities are stronger when we show up for all the people in them, not just the ones who look or love or vote the same way we do.

So if you’re not LGBTQIA+, Pride Month doesn’t require anything from you except empathy. And if you are LGBTQIA+, this month is for you. Your joy, your struggle, your truth. It matters. And it’s worth celebrating.