Another month has passed, and with it, the predictable chorus of complaints about Pride Month. Every June, like clockwork, we hear the same disingenuous refrain: “Why don’t we celebrate veterans this much?” or “What about men’s month?”

These critics conveniently ignore that Military Appreciation Month happens every May, Autism Awareness Month fills April, and dozens of other recognition months populate our calendar year-round.

This false concern for other groups barely masks what really bothers them: a month dedicated to celebrating people who were once criminalized for love and deemed mentally ill. The LGBTQ community endured centuries of persecution, imprisonment, and forced “treatment” for the crime of existing authentically. But acknowledging that history apparently threatens some people’s comfort more than actual injustice ever does.

Now we transition into July, when we celebrate America’s independence just as we rapidly descend into the chaos that could mark the end of our once-great republic. The irony is almost entertaining if I wasn’t part of the cast.

We celebrate our right to free speech and assembly while protesters, not rioters, get shot and gassed by a federalized National Guard.

Those who justify this violence cherry-pick isolated moments of chaos from overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrations, conveniently ignoring that the right to assembly means........

© Santa Clarita Valley Signal