Happy Pride Month!
It is already June 1, and our summer season is in full swing. Pride Month is always a busy time in Lansdale and this year will be no different. On June 11, our annual Pride Walk will take place starting at noon stepping off from Railroad Plaza (where the Kugal Ball is) and ending in Memorial Park where organizers have pulled together music, food, and other celebratory events for people to participate in. [Editor’s note: more details on the Pride Walk will be published in a separate article on Friday.]
Beyond Lansdale, municipalities across the North Penn region will be participating in Pride Flag raisings in support of the continued fight for equality for everyone of LGBTQ+ status. Below is a short list:
Montgomery County and Ambler Borough officially raised their Pride flags earlier Thursday afternoon, as well.
Celebrating Pride Month is important every year, however, there is added importance due to the ongoing, and extremely harmful, expansion of trans and queer bans across the country including HB 138 and HB 319 currently in the Pennsylvania State House.
The worst of the two, HB 319, looks to keep kids in elementary school from learning anything about gender identity. It specifically states: “A school entity may not offer instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity to a student in kindergarten through fifth grade.”
Let’s start with the reality that sexual orientation is rarely taught before the age of 12 or 13 in most public schools, making this legislation more about sending a message to the LGBTQ+ community and less about stopping any kind of threat to children in education. It is odd to me that legislation is required for something that is not actually happening in our schools today. Instead, it looks to deter the future possibility of sexual education in elementary school based on scant, and at best, questionable research. A position that I find odd from a conservative point of view which, generally, looks to limit government’s dictation to the masses and regularly rails against legislation that is seen as “prescriptive.”
From a more general standpoint, sexual education has routinely been a target of conservative groups at all levels of education and there is zero scientific research to suggest that “abstinence only” education keeps kids from exploring their sexuality. Instead, it hides the realities, and frankly science, of their bodies from them in the hopes that they will be shamed into being something they are not — generating years of trauma that can manifest in damaging and dangerous ways later in life.
So, if you are looking to support our LGBTQ+ community this year, please make sure you come out and join us for some of these wonderful events. If you can, also reach out to your state legislator and oppose HB 319 and 138 from moving forward in any capacity. It is my hope Pride Month can be a celebration for everyone to enjoy while also being the catalyst for us to continue the fight for equality both locally and across the commonwealth.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert. The views expressed are his own and not representative of North Penn Now or Lansdale Borough.)
See also:
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