Nebraska’s queer community is reacting to a recent proclamation from Gov. Jim Pillen, which they characterize as the latest attempt to try and “erase” their presence in the state.
Last Wednesday, Pillen was joined by state faith leaders, members of his family, and the nonprofit lobbying group Nebraska Family Alliance—a state-level affiliate of Focus on the Family—to sign a proclamation declaring the month of June “Marriage and Family Month,” evidently opposing the national observance of June as Pride Month for the LGBTQ+ community.
The recognition of June as Pride Month coincides with the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall riots, a historic series of demonstrations in New York City against government-sponsored persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
The proclamation, an official but non-legally binding document, encourages residents to “take due note” that “the nuclear family, consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children, is God’s design for the family structure and has been the foundation of every society since the creation of the world.”
Mike Marcheck, chair of the Nebraska Stonewall Democrats caucus, called the proclamation “another tactic to distract us from the issues that actually matter in Nebraska,” referring to the perennial scramble by lawmakers to balance the state’s budget.
“But the only thing that I’m seeing out of this governor is divisive,” Marcheck told Courier Nebraska. “The proclamation leaves out single parents. Widows are not included in that nuclear family style. Couples that don’t have children, are they included? The governor and state Republicans can’t highlight their own successes. So they’re trying to distract people with social issues.”
Marcheck added that he wasn’t surprised by the proclamation, but ultimately described the topic as a “non-issue… it’s not going to erase Pride. It’s not going to roll back any of our rights in Nebraska. The legislature does that enough.”
In the last three years, a string of anti-LGBTQ legislation has waded through Nebraska’s Unicameral.
In 2023, Governor Pillen signed an executive order that narrowly defines gender on the basis of sex-assigned at birth, i.e. “male” and “female.” That same year, lawmakers passed LB 574, a bill that placed limits on medically necessary care for transgender minor Nebraskans. Then last year, lawmakers also passed LB 89, also known as the Stand With Women Act, which mandates that students in K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions participate on sports teams that align with their biological sex.
“It’s really hard to believe that Gov. Pillen did not know that June is Pride Month. We’ll put it that way,” said Nia Patterson, communications manager for OutNebraska, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization. “I would encourage all Nebraskans to continue celebrating Pride Month. Regardless of what Pillen is saying, Pride is much bigger than Nebraska.”
Patterson echoed Marcheck’s sentiment that the LGBTQ+ community welcomes the celebration of many different definitions of family, from nuclear to chosen and beyond, and lauded the common philosophy of Nebraskans: “live and let live.”
“Our presence is not harming anyone,” they said. “There is a good subset of Nebraskans who very adamantly fight to protect their neighbors and their families from these kinds of discriminatory attacks. I feel like that’s kind of the heart of Pride.”
Marcheck and Patterson offered a direct message to the state’s LGBTQ+ community members who may feel attacked by this proclamation:
“They want you to give up. Don’t. Stay engaged. Stay involved. Stay informed. Don’t let them, don’t let them kill your spark,” Marcheck said. “Let this anger fuel you to fight for your rights, like so many generations before us have had to do. It doesn’t stop just because we stop.”
“This is not the first time that queer people’s existence in Nebraska has been singled out, put on the line, attacked, especially for trans people. You are valid in feeling this makes me feel unsafe or uncomfortable,” said Patterson. “But the month of June is uniquely queer. No legislative body or governor has the right to take over that joy, celebration, and protest. We ought to focus on what is inherently ours as a queer community this month: Pride.”
The state’s capital city, Lincoln, will play host to Star City Pride from June 12-13. Meanwhile, Pillen’s proclamation rhymes with similar efforts from other Republican governors across the country, countering celebrations of June as Pride Month with other conservative alternatives like Fidelity Month or Nuclear Family Month.
Read Pillen’s full proclamation below.
