The U.S. Military Shouldn’t Celebrate Pride Month

I t’s June, which means that our culture is now marked by seemingly omnipresent celebrations of “Pride Month.” Even the U.S. military has gotten in on the act. “Throughout June, the USMC takes #pride in recognizing and honoring the contributions of our LGBTQ service members,” the official account of the U.S. Marines tweeted last week. “We remain committed to fostering an environment free from discrimination, and defend the values of treating all equally, with dignity and respect.” Attached to the tweet was a picture of a Marine helmet with six rainbow-tipped bullets stashed away on it.

It’s a ridiculous message that captures the stupidity of letting politics hijack military operations. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and forced celebrations of things like Pride Month push our military away from its one job: to fight and win our nation’s wars. I do not support LGBTQ+ activism, and I do not think Pride Month is something that should be openly celebrated by government organizations, especially our military. The fact that I thought seriously about deleting that last sentence, as I know I will be called a bigot for it, perfectly illustrates why the military should not be weighing in on cultural issues that have nothing to do with combat readiness or mission set. I acknowledge we have quality gay, lesbian, and bisexual service members who do their job well. But their quality has nothing to do with their being gay, lesbian, or bisexual. That the U.S. military feels the need to celebrate their sexual preference as something that makes it better should be a natural head scratcher for everyone — including those service members who fall into these categories.

For one thing, the military has limited time and resources; dedicating them to things like Pride Month celebrations is simply wasteful. DEI is taking root in our military and draining resources, and I can promise you it has only gotten worse since I wrote about it last year. As I pointed out then, key organizational effort and manpower will continue to be diverted to DEI, weakening unit cohesion, and robbing resources from warfighting endeavors. If military service members want to celebrate Pride Month or create “pride events” themselves, by all means, go for it.

I have no issues with openly serving gay service members. Any attacks or discrimination against a service member for any bigoted reason should be met with the swiftest and most severe Uniformed Code of Military Justice punishment available. I openly applaud the progress we have made in this area. That progress was made not through DEI, however, but through the idea of mission-focused unit cohesion, highlighting how the individual contributed to the team and mission. It had nothing to do with forced celebration of “pride.” DEI efforts are dividing our military and turning it into a social battleground. Those on the left do this because they know the vast majority of the military are afraid to speak out and, if they do, the military leadership will crush any dissent.

Indeed, one of the most serious issues with pushing Pride Month in the military is that everyone knows it has no place there, but no one will speak up. I am not alone in believing it has no place in the military mission set. However, if anyone in uniform dared to say this publicly, they would face serious consequences and likely would be drummed out of service or at least have their career ruined. I have never heard an argument that coherently captures why the military should weigh in on this particular social issue. Because we have LGBTQ+ service members? Well, we have pro-life service members. I do not recall celebrating the March for Life. I am strongly pro-life, but I would also be strongly opposed to the military promoting the March for Life, as it has nothing to do with our ability to fight and win our nation’s wars. It would also divide our military members unnecessarily on a topic on which the military should have no stance.

A possible counter to this, and justification for the military’s celebrating Pride Month, is the alleged need to counteract a systemic nationwide deprivation of rights from this group. But this also falls flat. Despite the Left’s continued hue and cry, there are no rights that the LGBTQ+ community are denied that others are afforded. This is not some great civil-rights cause the military has some moral obligation to stand up for. Are there cases of LGBTQ+ discrimination? Well, of course there are. But that is also the case for any group in the history of the world. Currently, in the U.S., there are no benefits denied to the LGBTQ+ community. Not one.

In fact, the LGBTQ+ community is demanding special privileges and rights be extended to it. That, quite frankly, is what DEI is all about. DEI offices exist to convey special consideration and access to positions to people simply for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The Army People Strategy makes this clear: “establish and implement procedures for achieving desired Army diversity outcomes through diversity policy and talent management principles and practices.” Merit be damned: We will get the outcomes we want through forcing policy that is not about warfighting but favoring certain groups over others. We used to call this discrimination. We now call it DEI progress, and you are funding it.

I understand that individuals draw from their life experiences to overcome challenges, but I see no benefit for the military in openly supporting one group over another. I have been in numerous combat engagements and even have been combat-wounded and decorated for valor for multiple acts of heroism in the face of the enemy. Never have I thought that people with my background should be given special consideration for service and promotion because clearly, I must have what it takes. That is absurd. I can also assure you my sexual preference had nothing to do with how I fought in combat.

If you think celebrating Pride Month and other DEI efforts are not worth fighting back against, you have not been paying attention. DEI is about fundamentally reshaping our institutions to reflect the Left’s social agenda at all costs. The military is a convenient target because members are not allowed to openly speak out against official military policy or criticize elected officials and federal bureaucrats. They can make service members comply. You are next. Speak out for our military service members and keep the military focused on fighting and winning our nation’s wars — which we have not been doing a lot of lately.