SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Spencer Cox is facing backlash after declaring June as "Fidelity Month" in Utah, with local leaders and LGBTQ+ advocates criticizing the move as an attempt to replace Pride Month.
Cox issued the declaration this month, saying that "support for traditional values has significantly declined."
The governor said in his declaration that fidelity means "dedication to faith, family and country" and continued by saying, "it is imperative that we recommit ourselves to the pursuit of fidelity."
The move led some lawmakers and advocacy groups to call out Cox, who has in past years officially recognized June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. No such declaration has been released this year.
"Recasting June as Fidelity Month, instead of Pride Month, is a slap in the face for LGBTQ+ Utahns," a statement from Project Rainbow Utah read. "It would have been easy to start a campaign or recognize another month to pursue these goals, instead of taking Pride Month away from our community and replacing it with an insult that implies LGBTQ+ people don’t have families of their own, faith that they nourish, or a sense of patriotism that inspires them to make their community and country better."
The caucuses for Utah Senate and House Democrats also responded to Cox's "Fidelity Month" declaration.
"At a time when so many communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, are being targeted and erased, Utah needs leaders who bring people together, not leaders who deliberately look for new ways to divide us," they wrote. "We reject the idea that supporting LGBTQ+ Utahns comes at the expense of anyone else. Pride is for everyone. It welcomes every family, every neighbor, and every Utahn who believes that all people deserve respect and the opportunity to thrive."
State Senator Jen Plumb (D-Salt Lake City) added that she is "angry and deeply disappointed" by Cox's decision.
"[Pride] is a recognition of a community that has fought for generations to be seen, valued, and treated with dignity. It is a celebration of people who have too often been told they do not belong," her response read in part. "The message sent by this action is clear: at a time when LGBTQ+ people are facing increasing hostility across the country, Utah’s highest elected official chose not to stand with them. I reject that message."
Plumb also said this proclamation is "especially painful" to those who "supported leaders who spoke the language of compassion, understanding, and inclusion."
"To now see Pride Month deliberately pushed aside feels less like a difference of opinion and more like a betrayal of that trust," she continued.
In 2021, Cox officially declared June as "LGBTQ+ Pride Month in Utah" — the first Utah governor to issue such a proclamation. He did the same again in 2022.
In 2023, he declared June as "Pride Month," but with no specific mention of the LGBTQ+ community — instead, recognizing the "uniqueness of all individuals within our communities" and calling for "hope, understanding, love, dignity and respect."
In 2024, the governor declared June as "A Month of Bridge Building." In the full text, he recognized that June is typically celebrated as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. However, he broadly dedicated the month to those from all backgrounds who "share the experience of being marginalized, rejected or isolated."
And last June, Cox did not issue an official proclamation but posted on social media: "To those celebrating Pride and to all Utahns: may we keep building bridges of understanding and strive always to see the humanity in one another."
