Pride under attack: Activists say celebrations are more critical as US, conservative states such as Indiana rescind LGBTQ protections

Chicago Tribune

16 hours ago

Christopher Colwell of Valparaiso, Indiana, teared up a bit as his grandmother sang with her church choir during Northwest Indiana Pridefest earlier this month, calling the moment a haven of acceptance in a state and nation that's become increasingly hostile to queer men like him.
The grandson and grandma briefly embraced after her performance on a stage adorned with rainbow-colored balloons and a giant Pride flag.
'I can't stand the current climate in this state. It don't represent its people anymore,' said Colwell, 25, at the June 8 event at Riverview Park in Lake Station. 'I have a really poor outlook on the country as a whole.'
While Pride events in the past were largely celebrations of the rights the LGBTQ community has secured — as well as promotions for greater representation and acceptance — many activists say the focus this year has been on girding protections and freedoms that are being actively rolled back on the federal level as well as in many Republican-led states such as Indiana.
'For the LGBTQ community, there's a lot of anxiety about the rights that we have and are they going to stick around much longer?' said the Rev. Leah Peksenak, president of NWI Pridefest Inc. and pastor of two northwest Indiana churches. 'It's less about let's celebrate what we have and try to push for more. Now it's like, we might have to really dig in our heels and refuse to relinquish what we've already won. Because we're not going backward.'
This is in stark contrast to more liberal states such as Illinois, which have been strengthening LGBTQ rights and protections in the face of a national movement to rescind many of them.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul earlier this month filed an amicus brief, along with 20 other states, defending a Michigan law that bars health officials from practicing so-called conversion therapy on LGBTQ children. He's also spoken out against a Trump administration attempt to ban transgender military service and change to the passport application process, arguing they harm transgender and nonbinary Americans.
Gov. JB Pritzker has publicly pledged to protect the community's rights, as well.
'I've been marching for LGBTQ+ rights since Pride was considered a protest,' Pritzker posted on Facebook earlier this month, kicking off a series of Pride events statewide that culminated with the iconic Chicago Pride Parade in the Northalsted neighborhood Sunday. 'And I'll continue to march under this administration as a recommitment to the fight for equality today. No matter who you are or who you love, you have a home here in Illinois.'
Although Indiana has always been more conservative in terms of LGBTQ protections, Peksenak has seen more brazenness in the language and policymaking of elected officials in recent months.
A few days before the northwest Indiana Pride event, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith posted a 'Pride month alert' on the social media site X, warning parents that 'the rainbow beast is coming for your kids!'
'Corporate America and government institutions are launching their annual siege on childhood innocence — and this year's Pride Month agenda is more aggressive than ever,' the message said.
Many LGBTQ groups were outraged a few months ago, when Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita made an April Fools' Day post joking that 'The Left wins. … They have finally brainwashed me,' while standing beside a Pride flag.
In March, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed a pair of executive orders targeting 'extreme gender ideology.'
One barred transgender women and girls from participating in women and girls sports in Indiana schools; the other declared that there are only two genders. Both mirrored similar executive orders signed by President Donald Trump.
Out Leadership's annual State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index released this month found Illinois to have among the strongest protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other queer residents, while Indiana was one of the lowest-ranked states in the nation.
The global LGBTQ rights organization's state-by-state report showed great disparity across the country, with the nation as a whole growing more discriminatory — and divided — when it comes to LGBTQ rights and safeguards compared to previous years.
'Political polarization is widening, and following the 2024 elections, a new wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws is sweeping the nation,' the report stated.
Logan Casey, director of policy research for the national nonprofit think tank Movement Advancement Project, said the result is often vastly different freedoms and levels of safety for LGBTQ folks, depending on the part of the country where they live, work or visit.
'There is a very dramatic and clear difference from one state to the next when it comes to LGBTQ policies and protections — so a real patchwork,' he said. 'In a sense, there are two different Americas for LGBTQ people.'
'Freedom isn't linear'
Colwell's grandmother, 70-year-old Maggie Reister, said she was proud to perform at the local Pridefest with fellow worshippers from her Unitarian church, particularly amid such a tumultuous time in history for many LGBTQ folks.
'I know my grandson and his friends are afraid. They're more afraid now,' she said. 'I know bad things happen, they've always happened, but I think they're more afraid.'
Years ago, Reister attended rallies and protests demanding that governments legalize gay marriage. Then in 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that states couldn't deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a decision that seemed to mark a turning point for the nation, she recalled.
Thursday marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark decision.
Yet now, Reister fears the hard-earned rights and protections for the LGBTQ community are slowly slipping away in large swaths of the country.
'I think the conservative faction is more emboldened,' she added.
Anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric by politicians have a trickle-down effect, which can encourage broader discrimination by the public and discourage allies from showing support, said Peksenak, who is affectionately nicknamed 'the Rainbow Rev.'
The pastor said Pridefest organizers in northwest Indiana last year received one violent threat, which was frightening but the lone incident. This year, organizers received several similar messages in the run-up to the event, Peksenak said.
'Because of politics on a national scale, there just seems to be more and more permission for actual people to be loudly hateful, even just between last year and this year,' Peksenak said. 'So there seems to be more vitriol.'
Like many other Pride events nationwide, the northwest Indiana festival faced a recent financial crisis when corporate sponsors who had pledged funding dropped out following Trump's election in November.
'After the election results, they pulled out. Overnight,' Peksenak said. 'They all closed ranks. And they didn't say it was because of the election. They didn't say it was because of blowback. They said things like 'Oh, it's just not in the budget this year.' But we're not stupid.'
Going into June, San Francisco Pride had faced a $200,000 budget gap after corporate sponsors withdrew their support; KC Pride in Kansas City, Missouri, lost about $200,000, which was about half its annual budget, according to The Associated Press.
Anheuser-Busch dropped its sponsorship of PrideFest in St. Louis after 30 years of support, leaving organizers with a $150,000 budget shortfall.
Several events nationwide had to scale back their celebrations because of a loss of funding; in some cases, organizers said corporate sponsors asked to remain anonymous.
'If you come to Pride this year, that's a revolutionary act,' said Suzanne Ford, executive director of San Francisco Pride. 'You are sending a message to those in Washington that, here in San Francisco, we still have the same values that we've always had — you can love who you love here. We're not going to retreat from that.'
In northwest Indiana, organizers had to scramble to find new sponsors: An interfaith coalition of local churches and synagogues teamed up to raise events funds, each committing about $1,000 to $2,500, along with several steadfast local businesses, Peksenak said.
'Since November has been a really rude awakening,' the pastor added. 'There is a general sense across the whole community that, oh wait, freedom isn't linear. We can lose ground. And we actually have to work and engage to make sure that doesn't happen.'
To stay or leave?
Colwell said he has no plans to leave Indiana, despite the rhetoric and policies of many of its officials.
He cited his supportive local family and friends as part of his reason for staying. Reister added that she loves her northwest Indiana church and much of the greater community, which share her commitment to LGBTQ freedoms and safety.
While state laws can differ vastly, Casey of the Movement Advancement Project noted that the lived experience of individual LGBTQ folks and their loved ones can often vary by community, neighborhood or sections of a state.
Prejudice still exists in states with pro-LGBTQ policies; states with fewer protections might have cities or municipalities with thriving LGBTQ resources and legal safeguards, he added.
'There is absolutely a polarization in the policy environment for LGBTQ people right now,' said Elana Redfield, federal policy director at the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law. 'But I would be hesitant to characterize any state as clearly pro-LGBTQ or anti-LGBTQ. Because on the one hand, many states have really strong policy elements but still have local or regional elements that might not be quite so supportive.'
The opposite can also be true: Redfield recalled recently speaking at an event in Indianapolis, where she noticed that even the roadside billboards grew more progressive as she left rural areas of Indiana and headed into the more liberal-leaning capital. There, she received a warm reception with engaging conversation about LGBTQ issues.
But discriminatory language by politicians and anti-LGBTQ policies can translate to real harm for individuals, including affecting their mental health, she said.
'Right now, we have this exacerbation of official language that is dismissive … of LGBTQ experiences and in some cases outright exclusionary,' she said. 'Our research does show that anti-LGBTQ policy debates can have a real, measurable negative impact on mental health.'
There can be an enormous emotional cost 'that comes from having your right to marry being debated or whether you have a right to exist or not being debated — or whether you can play sports or whether you can access a bathroom,' she added.
A Williams Institute survey of roughly 300 transgender, nonbinary and gender diverse American adults released in May found that nearly half have already moved or wanted to move to 'more affirming places' within the United States, while 45% of those polled desired to leave the country. Most of the respondents cited anti-LGBTQ policies as the reason for wanting to move.
This is a troubling trend to Casey.
'It's easy for a lot of people to think, 'Well you should move somewhere else where the laws are better,'' he said. 'While that obviously makes sense in a way, the larger point is that people shouldn't be forced to choose between the place that they call home and their rights or protections.'
But he says that's the quandary facing many LGBTQ folks and their loved ones nationwide, particularly in much of the South and Midwest.
'Those are choices that our politicians are making to force those sorts of really impossible life decisions for so many people,' he said.