Straight pride

{{Short description|Countermovement to LGBTQ+ pride movements and events}}{{Use American English|date=March 2026}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}}

[[File:Boston Straight Pride Parade attendees 33 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Attendees at the Boston Straight Pride Parade on August 31, 2019. An attendee holds a sign depicting two hands making the 'OK' gesture.]] '''Straight pride''' is a reactionary<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dubeat.com/2019/09/18/the-bizarre-fledgling-straight-pride-movement/|title=The Bizarre, Fledgling "Straight Pride" Movement|first=Kartik|last=Chauhan|date=September 18, 2019}}</ref> slogan and movement that emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It has been used by some social conservative groups as a political response<ref name="Massachusetts">{{Cite report |url=https://www.massresistance.org/docs/downloads/romney/CommReport_Making_Colleges_Safe_7-93.pdf |title=Making Colleges and Universities Safe for Gay and Lesbian Students |date=July 1993 |publisher=The Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth |location=Boston, MA |page=22 |quote=A relatively recent tactic used in the backlash opposing les/bi/gay/trans campus visibility is the so-called 'heterosexual pride' strategy. |access-date=August 28, 2021}}</ref> to gay pride,<ref name="Shifting Sands">{{cite book|last=Eliason|first=Michele J.|url=https://archive.org/details/healthsexualmino00meye|title=The Health of Sexual Minorities: Public Health Perspectives on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations|author2=Schope, Robert|publisher=Springer|year=2007|isbn=978-0-387-28871-0|editor1=Meyer|editor-first=Ilan H.|editor-link=Ilan Meyer|pages=3–26|chapter=Shifting Sands or Solid Foundation? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Identity Formation|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-31334-4_1|quote=Not surprisingly, individuals in the pride stage are most criticized not only by heterosexual persons but also many LGBT individuals, who are uncomfortable forcing the majority to share the discomfort. Heterosexual individuals may express bewilderment at the term 'gay pride,' arguing that they do not talk about 'straight pride'.|editor2=Northridge|editor-first2=Mary E.|editor-link2=Mary Northridge|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="donthaveem">{{Cite book|last=Eliason|first=Michele J.|title=Who Cares?: Institutional Barriers to Health Care for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Persons|publisher=NLN Press|year=1996|isbn=9780887376764|pages=55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wkrcU5Z2FrcC&dq=%22straight+pride%22+origin&pg=PA55|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref name="ChicagoTribune1">{{cite web|last=Zorn|first=Eric|date=November 14, 2010|title=When 'pride' turns shameful|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2010/11/14/when-pride-turns-shameful/|access-date=August 28, 2021|work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> a slogan adopted by the LGBTQ community in the early 1970s, as well as a rebuttal against gay liberation movements.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-06-05 |title=Calls for a 'Straight Pride Parade' cause stir |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-48527248 |access-date=2026-05-19 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lang |first=Nico |date=2019-07-01 |title=The distraction of Straight Pride, as explained by LGBTQ activists and historians |url=https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/7/1/18761623/straight-pride |access-date=2026-05-19 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref>

Straight pride events have largly attracted controversy and media attention, often due to their opposition to LGBTQ pride movements. Protests against policies intended to reduce harassment of LGBTQ adolescents in schools have been another factor in bringing attention to the movement<ref name="ChicagoTribune1" /><ref name="Ayres" /><ref name="dailyherald"/>

==Background==

=== LGBTQ rights movement === {{Main|Gay liberation|LGBTQ movements}} {{Further|1960s in LGBTQ rights|Counterculture of the 1960s|Pride Month}} Although LGBTQ history extends to ancient civilizations, the contemporary LGBTQ rights movement in North America is widely traced back to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. Initial newspaper coverage of the riots was limited compared to other civil disturbances of the era. A commemorative march held one year later, which drew approximately five thousand participants along Sixth Avenue, received broader media attention, and established the precedent for annual LGBTQ pride marches.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paranick |first=Amber |date=2019-06-27 |title=Stonewall 50 in Newspapers {{!}} Headlines & Heroes |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/06/stonewall-50-in-newspapers |access-date=2025-06-14 |website=The Library of Congress}}</ref>

The late 1960s and 1970s saw shifting social attitudes toward homosexuality in parts of North American society. The period also coincided with the rise of disco culture, which is often noted as providing spaces where LGBTQ individuals had greater visibility. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Johnston-Ramirez |first=Manya |date=2020-12-17 |title=Disco and Gay Culture in the 1970s |url=https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/bc4fa3c026e24ed0bd724fe588bf1aa7 |access-date=2026-03-16 |website=ArcGIS StoryMaps |language=en}}</ref>

=== Reaction === In 1979, a religious revival among conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants contributed to the rise of the Christian right as a political force in the United States during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Steven P. |year=2014 |title=The Age of Evangelicalism: America's Born-Again Years |chapter=Left, Right, Born Again |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cWLwAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199777952.003.0003 |pages=32–59 |isbn=9780199777952 |lccn=2013037929 |oclc=881502753}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Durham |first=Martin |author-link=Martin Durham |year=2000 |chapter=The rise of the right |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ual1NR2WPasC&pg=PA1 |title=The Christian Right, the Far Right, and the Boundaries of American Conservatism |location=Manchester and New York |publisher=Manchester University Press |pages=1–23 |isbn=9780719054860}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Gannon |author-first=Thomas M. |date=July–September 1981 |title=The New Christian Right in America as a Social and Political Force |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1981_num_52_1_2226 |journal=Archives de sciences sociales des religions |location=Paris |publisher=Éditions de l'EHESS |volume=26 |issue=52–1 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.3406/assr.1981.2226 |doi-access= |issn=0335-5985 |jstor=30125411}}</ref> This political shift coincided with increased opposition to LGBTQ advocacy efforts.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s had a significant impact on LGBTQ communities; the crisis was accompanied by increased stigmatization, social isolation, and violence directed at affected individuals and groups.<ref>{{cite book |last=Westengard |first=Laura |year=2019 |chapter=Monstrosity: Melancholia, Cannibalism, and HIV/AIDS |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b5unDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |title=Gothic Queer Culture: Marginalized Communities and the Ghosts of Insidious Trauma |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |pages=99–103 |isbn=978-1-4962-0204-8 |lccn=2018057900}}</ref>

== Straight Pride events == thumb|Icon often used on Straight Pride T-shirts & stickers.Heterosexual pride parades emerged in response to increasing social acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ people. They began on university campuses in the United States during the 1990s and are widely described as a backlash tactic rather than a grassroots movement.<ref name="Massachusetts" /><ref name="ChicagoTribune1" />

The term “Straight Pride” has also been used on clothing and stickers, often accompanied by imagery depicting a man and a woman holding hands.<ref name="Ayres" />

=== Early controversies and campus events === In 1988, Vermont Republican John Burger asked state governor Madeleine Kunin to establish a "Straight Pride Day".<ref name="vermont1988">{{Cite news |date=June 30, 1988 |title=Vermont |work=USA Today |id={{ProQuest|306056750}} |quote=Montpelier - John Burger of state Republican Assembly wants Gov. Kunin to designate Nov. 8 'Straight Pride Day,' says Assembly will support move. Burger: 'I don't see any reason why straights can't be proud of their straightness.'}}</ref>

In 1990, rallies supporting straight pride were held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) and Mount Holyoke College, organized by Young Americans for Freedom.<ref name="straigh1">{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1990 |title=Campus Life: UMass, Mount Holyoke; Rallies Opposing Gay Students Disrupt Campuses |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/06/style/campus-life-umass-mount-holyoke-rallies-opposing-gay-students-disrupt-campuses.html |work=The New York Times |page=51 |id={{ProQuest|427669771}}}}</ref> One such event, held at UMass Amherst in April, was promoted under the name "Burn a Fag in Effigy" rally, according to contemporaneous reports.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Henry |first=William A. III |author-link=William A. Henry III |date=April 1, 1991 |title=Upside Down in the Groves of Academe |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1991-04-01/spread/86/ |magazine=Time |page=66 |quote=Amherst, Mass. A 'straight pride' demonstration by conservative students at the University of Massachusetts in March was broken up by gay protesters. (Last year the event was billed provocatively as the 'Burn a Fag in Effigy' rally.)}}</ref> A similar event held in March of the following year was reportedly attended by about fifty people, while around 500 counter-protesters participated in demonstrations against it.<ref name="1991one">{{cite news |date=March 10, 1991 |title=Campus Life: Massachusetts; Angry Gay Groups Drown Out Rally By Conservatives |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/nyregion/campus-life-massachusetts-angry-gay-groups-drown-out-rally-by-conservatives.html |access-date=March 23, 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |id={{ProQuest|428007459}}}}</ref>

=== Straight pride parades and public events === Events described as "straight pride parades"<ref name="London">{{Cite news |date=July 8, 1999 |title=London hosts straight and gay pride parades |work=The Record |location=Kitchener, Ontario, CA |id={{ProQuest|275631883}} |quote=The city's gay pride parade on Sunday has a rival – a straight pride parade organized at the same time and on practically the same route. |agency=The Canadian Press}}</ref><ref name="oakland2002">{{Cite news |last=Laitner |first=Bill |date=June 17, 2002 |title=Oakland Today |work=Detroit Free Press |id={{ProQuest|436381186}} |quote=About 100 people marched through downtown Ferndale on Sunday morning in a Straight Pride Parade...}}</ref><ref name="Budapest" /> or "straight pride days"<ref name="vermont1988" /><ref name="Yellowknife" /><ref name="Brazil" /><ref name="etsu">{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1997 |title=Straight Pride Day fails at ETSU campus |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=110FE9B22D968458&p_docnum=1 |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=The Oak Ridger |agency=The Associated Press}}</ref> have been organized in response to pride events held by LGBTQ groups.<ref name="usatoday92">{{Cite news |last=Manning |first=Anita |date=June 2, 1992 |title=Gay topics go public // Issues are entering the mainstream // Exposure brings air of acceptance |work=USA Today |id={{ProQuest|306536183}} |quote=On college campuses, where gay student groups are no longer unusual, 'you see increased incidences{{verify spelling|date=September 2022|reason=''incidence'' is normally used only in the singular form, perhaps ''incidence'', ''incidents'', or ''instances'' was intended}} of straight pride rallies in retaliation against gay pride activities'...}}</ref> These events have attracted attention primarily due to their controversy, rather than from large-scale participation. Other events, typically occurring in United States high schools where First Amendment issues have arisen,<ref name="first04">{{Cite news |last=Juarez |first=Vanessa |date=October 3, 2004 |title=They Dress to Express |url=https://www.newsweek.com/they-dress-express-129581 |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=Newsweek}}</ref> have involved people wearing "straight pride" T-shirts.<ref name="gender1">{{Cite journal |last=Case |first=Mary Anne |date=2010 |title=A Lot to Ask: Review Essay of Martha Nussbaum's ''From Disgust to Humanity: Sexual Orientation and Constitutional Law'' |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228257774 |journal=Columbia Journal of Gender and Law |volume=19 |issue=1 |quote=The public schools have been the locus in recent years of what might be called the T-shirt wars, with a number of federal constitutional lawsuits addressing the general question of whether 'a public high school [may] prohibit students from wearing Tshirts with messages that condemn and denigrate other students on the basis of their sexual orientation,' and specific questions as to whether a range of T-shirt slogans from 'Homosexuality is Shameful "Romans 1:27{{" '}} to 'Straight Pride' and 'Be Happy, Not Gay' qualify for such a prohibition. |via=ResearchGate}}</ref><ref name="Fenton" /><ref name="t-shirt10">{{Cite news |last=Spencer |first=Kim |date=September 8, 2003 |title=Telling it (too much) like it is |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=FMTB&p_theme=fmtb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FDC12F5483FB98B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=Fort Morgan Times}}</ref><ref name="t-shirt1998">{{Cite news |date=June 8, 1998 |title=Gay pride display removed |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=39c_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=ISEGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3934,5119685&dq=straight-pride+day&hl=en |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=Lodi News-Sentinel |agency=The Associated Press}}</ref><ref name="tshirt2343">{{Cite book |last=Saunders |first=Kevin W. |title=Degradation: What the History of Obscenity Tells Us about Hate Speech |publisher=NYU Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780814741450 |pages=187–88}}</ref>

[[File:2023 DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals - Sarah Stierch 01.jpg|thumb|A straight pride sticker on the window of a pickup truck in Sonoma, California, in 2023.]]

=== Political rallies and public reaction === At a 2010 Tea Party Express rally in Lansing, Michigan, a vendor sold T-shirts printed with the slogan "straight pride".<ref name="michiganmessenger">{{Cite news |last=Heywood |first=Todd A. |date=April 12, 2010 |title='Straight pride' shirts at Tea Party rally draw fire |url=http://michiganmessenger.com/36668/straight-pride-shirts-at-tea-party-rally-draw-fire |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120808120720/http://michiganmessenger.com/36668/straight-pride-shirts-at-tea-party-rally-draw-fire |archive-date=August 8, 2012 |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=The Michigan Messenger}}</ref>

Several state and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations criticized the shirts, arguing that the slogan echoed the use of "white pride" by racist groups. Additional criticism arose from reports that the vendor was financially connected to the event, though these reports were disputed.<ref name="michiganmessenger" /><ref name="tea2">{{cite book |last=Lepore |first=Jill |author-link=Jill Lepore |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780691150277/page/126 |title=The whites of their eyes: the Tea Party's revolution and the battle over American history |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-691-15027-7 |location=Princeton, N.J. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780691150277/page/126 126–127] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

=== Ideological motivations and extremist involvement === Support for straight pride events has often been linked to religious objections to homosexuality.<ref name="1991one" /><ref name="regli2">{{Cite news |last=Washington |first=Robin |date=September 6, 2009 |title=What does one wear to a straight pride parade? |url=https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/what-does-one-wear-straight-pride-parade |access-date=August 28, 2021 |work=Duluth News Tribune}}</ref> Some extremist groups, including the White Aryan Resistance and the Ku Klux Klan, have also promoted straight pride rhetoric as part of their opposition to gay pride events.<ref name="Blazak">{{cite journal |last=Blazak |first=Randy |date=February 2001 |title=White boys to terrorist men: Target recruitment of Nazi Skinheads |journal=American Behavioral Scientist |volume=44 |issue=6 |page=993 |doi=10.1177/00027640121956629 |s2cid=145374040}}</ref>

The proponents of straight pride are often associated with far-right Christian ideologies that follow patriarchal structures, linking heterosexuality to traditional gender roles, including views of women as child bearers, as in the Quiverfull movement.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Joyce |first=Kathryn |date=2006-11-09 |title='Arrows for the War' |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/arrows-war/ |access-date=2026-03-24 |language=en-US |issn=0027-8378}}</ref>

==Individual events==

===Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada (2005)=== In May 2005, the northern Canadian city of Yellowknife announced that it would officially recognize both a gay and a straight pride day.<ref name="Yellowknife">{{cite news|date=May 25, 2005|title=Yellowknife to mark gay and straight pride|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/yellowknife-to-mark-gay-and-straight-pride-1.535381|access-date=August 28, 2021}}</ref> The mayor declared June 10, 2005, as Gay Pride Day. Councillor Alan Woytuik proposed that there be a Heterosexual Day, and the mayor agreed, setting it for June 9. Woytuik defended the proposal for Heterosexual Day by stating that "recognizing the contributions of heterosexuals is just as legitimate as recognizing the contributions of gay and lesbian communities". The group seeking the Gay Pride Day designation objected, asking if Black History Month would be partnered with White Heritage Month and whether days marking heart disease and strokes should be paired with days celebrating good health.<ref name = "Yellowknife" /> Woytuik's request for Heterosexual Day drew wide media attention, after which he withdrew his request and apologized. He described his action as seeking to treat everyone the same, which was blown out of proportion. The city subsequently rescinded its proclamation of Heterosexual Day.<ref name="rescinded">{{cite news|date=May 30, 2005|title='Shocked' councillor withdraws Straight Pride motion|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/shocked-councillor-withdraws-straight-pride-motion-1.550592|access-date=March 28, 2012}}</ref>

===Budapest, Hungary (2010)=== In 2010, a heterosexual pride march was held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Following the route of an earlier gay pride parade, a hundred people participated, including two members of parliament: Dóra Dúró and Előd Novák. Organizers stated that the goal of the march was to prevent future use of public spaces by homosexuals for gatherings.<ref name="Budapest">{{cite web|last=MTI|date=September 6, 2010|title=Anti-gay parade held in Budapest|url=http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/anti_gay_par/?cHash=341a28918d|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917013718/http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/article/11/anti_gay_par/?cHash=341a28918d|archive-date=September 17, 2010|access-date=August 28, 2021|work=caboodle.hu}}</ref>

===São Paulo, Brazil (2011)=== In August 2011, the city council of São Paulo, Brazil, designated the third Sunday in December as Heterosexual Pride Day ({{Langx|pt|Dia do Orgulho Hétero}}).<ref name="Brazil">{{cite journal|last=Ring|first=Trudy|date=August 4, 2011|title=Brazilian City Seeks Heterosexual Pride Day|url=https://www.advocate.com/news/daily-news/2011/08/04/brazilian-city-seeks-heterosexual-pride-day|journal=The Advocate|access-date=August 28, 2021}}</ref> The debate in Brazil over this decision was intense.<ref name="washpost1">{{cite news|last=Flock|first=Elizabeth|date=June 22, 2011|title='Straight Pride' as Brazil's gay pride parade kicks off|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/straight-pride-suggested-as-brazils-gay-pride-parade-kicks-off/2011/06/22/AGgy1JgH_blog.html|access-date=August 28, 2021}}</ref><ref name= SauPaulopassed>{{cite web|last=Ring |first=Trudy |url=http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/08/04/Brazilian_City_Seeks_Heterosexual_Pride_Day/ |title=Brazilian City Seeks Heterosexual Pride Day &#124; World News |publisher=The Advocate |access-date=April 2, 2012}}</ref> Evangelical supporter Carlos Apolinário, who previously tried to ban São Paulo's LGBTQ Pride Parade,<ref name ="washpost1"/> told reporters that his idea was "not anti-gay, but a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys". The Brazilian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association criticized this claim and said that it could lead to anti-gay violence.<ref name="lgbtnation">{{cite web|last=Levesque|first=Brody|date=August 4, 2011|title=Sao Paulo lawmaker calls for 'straight pride' to counter 'privileged' gay celebration|url=http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2011/08/sao-paulo-alderman-calls-for-straight-pride-to-counter-privileged-gay-celebration/|website=LGBTQ Nation}}</ref>

===Chipman, New Brunswick, Canada (2018)=== [[File:Heterosexual flag (black-white stripes).svg|alt=A flag with six horizontal stripes, alternating between black and white|thumb|A straight pride flag similar to this was used in New Brunswick<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reid-Smith|first=Tris|date=January 21, 2020|title=Pride flags: The biggest guide to LGBT+ rainbow flags and what they all mean|url=https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pride-flags-the-biggest-guide-to-lgbt-rainbow-flags-and-what-they-all-mean/|access-date=August 28, 2021|website=Gay Star News|language=en-GB}}</ref>]] In October 2018, Glenn Bishop, a resident of Chipman, New Brunswick, raised a straight pride flag in the center of the town with approval from the village council. It was taken down by LGBTQ activists after the better part of a day. Hoisting the straight flag was likened to "putting up a swastika" by local Margaret Clark. The flag drew further protests and calls for an apology from the council members who allowed it to be flown.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fraser|first1=Elizabeth|date=October 22, 2018|title=New Brunswick village removes 'straight pride' flag amid backlash|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/straight-pride-flag-1.4872572|access-date=October 22, 2018|website=CBC News}}</ref>

===San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States (2019)=== Don Grundmann, a Bay Area chiropractor, founded the National Straight Pride Coalition (NSPC) in the spring of 2019 for "protecting traditional gender roles, Christianity, heterosexuality, Western Civilization, babies, and the contributions of whites to Western Civilization from the malevolence of the homosexual movement".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last1=Valine|first1=Kevin|last2=Rowland|first2=Marijke|last3=Holland|first3=John|date=August 24, 2019|title=Modesto protesters outnumber straight pride supporters at tense but peaceful rally|url=https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article234322637.html|access-date=August 29, 2019|website=The Modesto Bee|language=en}}</ref> Grundmann had previously founded Citizens Against Perversion and American Warrior Ministry.<ref name=":0" /> The NSPC's first event was planned to be at Modesto, California's Mancini Bowl, the Graceada Park amphitheater, but the permit was denied for safety and compatibility issues, and because their insurance was voided.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Valine|first=Kevin|date=August 10, 2019|title=Modesto denies Straight Pride rally at Graceada. Organizer says event will go on.|work=The Modesto Bee|url=https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article233733662.html|access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref> After failing again to get the required insurance for a public venue because of the nature of their event,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Valine|first=Kevine|date=August 16, 2019|title=Modesto Centre Plaza is out for straight pride, but organizers say rally still on|work=The Modesto Bee|url=https://www.modbee.com/news/local/article234090612.html|access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref> they moved the rally to a private space. This was shut down by the owners when they were alerted that the event was being live-streamed and counter-protesters would likely arrive.<ref name=":0" /> The owners, who were unaware of the nature of the event and the group hosting it, later disavowed their involvement.<ref name=":0" /> After the rally was kicked out of the private venue, they moved to the parking lot of the area's Planned Parenthood, which was closed.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Avery|first=Daniel|date=August 27, 2019|title='Straight Pride' rally in California draws 20 attendees, 200 counter-protestors|url=https://www.newsweek.com/straight-pride-modesto-1456352|access-date=August 29, 2019|website=Newsweek|language=en}}</ref> Reports claim that around twenty supporters attended, short of the five hundred that Grundmann had predicted. Counter-protesters outnumbered participants ten-to-one.<ref name=":1" />

===Boston, Massachusetts, United States (2019)=== thumb|Amateur video showing police arresting a counter-protester at the August 2019 Boston Straight Pride Parade The group Super Happy Fun America (SHFA) organized an August 2019 "Straight Pride Parade"<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/28/college-president-calls-straight-pride-parade-boston-perversion/2142419001/|title=Straight Pride Parade a 'perversion': Boston plans draws outrage|last=Garrison|first=Joey|date=August 29, 2019|website=USA Today|language=en|access-date=August 29, 2019}}</ref> that attracted several hundred participants and thousands of protesters.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last1=Hilliard|first1=John|last2=Wu|first2=Sarah|last3=MacQuarrie|first3=Brian|last4=Ortiz|first4=Aimee|date=August 31, 2019|title=Protesters jeer Straight Pride Parade marchers along route to City Hall|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/08/31/counterprotesters-rally-across-city-from-straight-pride-parade-starting-point/qFStqXFPcWoOWAaxkDyDfI/story.html|access-date=August 31, 2019|website=The Boston Globe|language=en-US}}</ref> Counter-protesters vastly outnumbered attendees of the parade.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Grant|first=Melissa Gira|date=September 4, 2019|title=When the State Enforces 'Straight Pride'|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/154921/boston-police-straight-pride-anti-lgbtq-attacks-increasing|access-date=September 6, 2019|issn=0028-6583}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Garrison|first=Joey|date=August 31, 2019|title=Boston's Straight Pride Parade draws hundreds of marchers and even more counter protesters|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/31/bostons-straight-pride-parade-here-after-months-debate/2167020001/|access-date=September 3, 2019|website=USA Today|language=en}}</ref> SHFA called the event "a response to the identity politics of the left".<ref name=":2" /> Emerson College's president M. Lee Pelton warned about the event, as the parade route bordered the college campus, starting at Copley Square and ending at Boston City Hall. He said the event represented "fear and ignorance, humanity's most potent cocktail, masquerading as freedom of speech".<ref name=":2" /> SHFA organizer Samson Racioppi responded by asking for a retraction and apology.<ref name=":2" /> The SHFA group was created in 2017 by Kyle Chapman, who founded the group Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights a week after the Charlottesville Unite the Right riot.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Patrice|first=Jenna|date=August 30, 2019|title=Straight Pride Organizer Is Against Civil Rights Protections|url=https://witlessx.squarespace.com/blog/straight-pride-organizer-is-against-civil-rights-protections|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108003941/https://witlessx.squarespace.com/blog/straight-pride-organizer-is-against-civil-rights-protections|archive-date=November 8, 2020|access-date=August 30, 2019|website=witlessX|language=en-US}}</ref> Staff includes president John Hugo, a former Republican Congressional candidate, and vice president Mark Sahady, "a member of the right-wing group Resist Marxism, who has organized several right-wing demonstrations in the past".<ref name=":2" /> SHFA announced the event in June 2019. Racioppi, Sahady, and Hugo contacted the police in early July 2019 when envelopes filled with glitter were mailed to them.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Aviles|first=Gwen|date=July 2, 2019|title=FBI investigates 'glitter bombing' of Straight Pride Parade organizers|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/fbi-investigates-glitter-bombing-straight-pride-parade-organizers-n1025851|access-date=August 29, 2019|website=NBC News}}</ref> One of the event's attendees, Marky Hutt, had previously founded a group for gay Trump supporters; he said the organizers of the Straight Pride event had invited him to attend, and he was present at the event with his fiancé.<ref name=":3" />

Thirty-six counter-protesters were arrested at the event.<ref>{{Cite web |title=36 arrested during Straight Pride protests due in court this week - The Boston Globe |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/09/01/three-dozen-arrested-during-straight-pride-protests-due-court-this-week/MQwa87MXhgiNWnwUzl2iHL/story.html |access-date=2026-03-21 |website=BostonGlobe.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Boston city Councillor Michelle Wu suggested that police tactics and choice of equipment raised tensions between police and counter-protesters.<ref>{{Cite news|last=DeCosta-Klipa|first=Nik|date=September 4, 2019|title=Michelle Wu questions police tactics at 'Straight Pride Parade'|language=en-US|work=Boston.com|url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/09/04/michelle-wu-boston-straight-pride-parade-police/|access-date=September 6, 2019}}</ref>

=== Boise, Idaho, United States (2025) ===

The Heterosexual Awesomeness Festival,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Villarreal |first=Daniel |title=Bigots fight as pro-LGBTQ+ singer hijacks "Heterosexual Awesomeness" festival |url=https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/06/bigots-fight-as-pro-lgbtq-singer-hijacks-heterosexual-awesomeness-festival/ |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=LGBTQ Nation |language=en}}</ref> or Hetero Awesome Fest,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-24 |title='Hetero Awesome Fest' in Idaho concludes with fighting, low attendance, and racism scandal |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/hetero-awesome-fest-idaho-racism |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=The Advocate |language=en-US|first=Ryan |last=Adamczeski}}</ref> was a two-day straight pride event held in Boise, Idaho, in June 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Riedel |first=Samantha |date=2025-06-23 |title=A Boise Bar's "Hetero Awesome Fest" Was a Straight-Up Flop |url=https://www.them.us/story/boise-bar-hetero-awesome-fest-daniel-hamrick-protest-song |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=Them |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-24 |title=Organizer responds to racist comment at 'Hetero Awesome Festival' |url=https://www.kivitv.com/eagle/organizer-responds-to-racist-comment-at-hetero-awesome-festival |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=Idaho News 6 Boise Twin Falls (KIVI) |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Sophie |date=2025-05-01 |title='Hetero Awesome Fest' set to take place in Pride month gets roasted online |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/01/hetero-awesome-fest-straight-idaho-comments-roast/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=PinkNews |language=en-US}}</ref> The festival was held at Cecil D. Andrus Park.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-29 |title='Hetero Awesome Fest' planned for Idaho capitol during LGBTQ Pride Month |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/hetero-awesome-fest-planned-boise-idaho-lgbtq-pride-month-rcna203543 |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> It had a budget of $85,000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-24 |title='It's not about Black people. It's about liberalism': Hetero Awesome Fest organizer on racist comments |url=https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/its-not-about-black-people-its-about-liberalism-hetero-awesome-fest-organizer-on-racist-comments-idaho/277-2b016977-8fb4-4986-ac77-04366e2df5f0 |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=ktvb.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Dozens of people attended the festival.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-21 |title=Dozens attend 'Hetero Awesome Fest' in Idaho |url=https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/dozens-attend-hetero-festival-in-idaho-boise/277-64864d25-d10a-49d8-bb05-57b943c08ab8 |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=ktvb.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-06-23 |title=Sparse crowds, stage disruption at 'Hetero Awesome Fest' in Boise |url=https://www.qsaltlake.com/news/2025/06/23/hetero-awesome-fest-boise/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=QSaltLake Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

The festival was organized by Mark Fitzpatrick, who has also organized Heterosexual Awesomeness Month and started the 501(c)(3) organization Heterosexual Awesomeness Inc.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2025-05-14 |title=Inside one NW man's war on Pride: 'I love you... You're going to Hell' |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2025/05/inside-one-nw-mans-war-on-pride-i-love-you-youre-going-to-hell.html |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=The Oregonian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Idaho bar to host 'Hetero Awesome Fest' during Pride Month |url=https://www.out.com/news/hetero-awesome-fest-idaho-explained |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=Out |language=en}}</ref> According to ''The Hill'', Fitzpatrick was "inspired to create the June events when he and his family were discussing how to spend his daughter's birthday last year. He said they could not go to downtown Boise, where Pride events were held."<ref>{{Cite web | title='Hetero Awesome Fest' to be held near Idaho Capitol during Pride | url=https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5273814-hetero-awesome-fest-idaho-capitol-boise-pride-month/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250430020255/https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5273814-hetero-awesome-fest-idaho-capitol-boise-pride-month/ | access-date=2025-07-07 | archive-date=2025-04-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-26 |title='Hetero Awesome Fest' planned for Idaho Capitol during Pride Month |url=https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/hetero-awesome-fest-planned-for-idaho-capitol-during-pride-month-boise/277-f6614bc0-f6de-49ae-9e38-198256c8b21c |access-date=2025-06-27 |website=ktvb.com |language=en-US}}</ref> During the event, singer-songwriter Daniel Hamrick<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-27 |title=LGBTQ musician goes viral after playing protest song at 'Hetero Awesome Fest' in Idaho |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/lgbtq-musician-goes-viral-playing-protest-song-hetero-awesome-fest-ida-rcna215541 |access-date=2025-06-27 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> (also known as Archer Flynn)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-24 |title=Musician disrupts sparsely attended "Straight Pride" event with pro-trans performance |url=https://www.scenemag.co.uk/musician-disrupts-sparsely-attended-straight-pride-event-with-pro-trans-performance/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=Scene Magazine |language=en}}</ref> tricked organizers by performing the song "Boy", which has been described as "a haunting piece about a trans child enduring forced conformity and societal cruelty". He wore a T-shirt with the text "Keep Canyon County Queer" and a jacket with rainbow patches.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2025-06-25 |title=Boise 'Straight Pride' Fest Flops And Get Hijacked by Queer Song |url=https://hotspotsmagazine.com/2025/06/25/boise-straight-pride-fest-flops-and-get-hijacked-by-queer-song/ |access-date=2025-06-27 |website=Hotspots Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> Fitzpatrick removed the singer from the stage.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mulabazi |first=Ljeonida |date=2025-06-23 |title="More porta potties than people": Idaho man throws "Hetero Awesome Fest," draws dozens |url=https://www.dailydot.com/news/hetero-awesome-fest-idaho/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch: 'Hetero Awesome Fest' trolled by a pro-LGBTQ+ singer |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/hetero-awesome-fest-idaho-racism |access-date=2025-06-26 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}</ref>

==Legal issues== {{Quote box | quote = "All students benefit from the respectful and thoughtful exchange of ideas and sharing of beliefs and practices. Schools, in particular, are environments that can provide education of both the substance of diversity and the responsible manner with which such diversity is approached and expressed"<ref name = "Biegel" >{{cite book|last=Biegel|first=Stuart|title=The right to be out: sexual orientation and gender identity in America's public schools|url=https://archive.org/details/righttobeoutsexu00stua|url-access=registration|year=2010|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|location=Minneapolis, Minn.|isbn=978-0-8166-7457-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/righttobeoutsexu00stua/page/203 203]}}</ref> | source = Judge Donovan Frank closing ''Chambers v. Babbitt'' (2001) | width = 25% | align = right }} In 2001, Woodbury High School in Woodbury, Minnesota, created homophobia-free areas called "safe zones" for gay students. These were advertised by posters marked with an inverted pink triangle.<ref name="Fenton">{{cite news|last=Fenton|first=Ben|date=January 18, 2002|title=Student wins right to show 'straight pride'|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1381953/Student-wins-right-to-show-straight-pride.html|url-access=limited|access-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref> Student Elliot Chambers reacted by wearing a makeshift sweatshirt with the slogan "Straight Pride" and the image of male and female stick figures holding hands. In light of previous anti-gay incidents, the school's principal ordered Chambers to remove the shirt, and a court case ensued.<ref name="Ayres" /> A court upheld Chambers's complaint that his First Amendment rights had been violated and that the principal's decision was unjustified.<ref name="Ayres">{{cite book|last1=Ayres|first1=Ian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EyK1jJybaVMC&q=%22straight+pride%22|title=Straightforward: How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights|last2=Brown|first2=Jennifer Gerarda|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-691-12134-5|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=41–43}}</ref> Although praising the principal's intentions, the judge explained that views of both sides of the debate should be allowed and that such issues should be resolved within the school's community, not within the court system.<ref name="Ayres"/>

Based on the precedent of ''Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District'', the court stated that the substantial disruptions claimed by the school must be shown to have some connection to Chambers's sweatshirt message of "Straight Pride".<ref name="first">{{cite web|date=October 11, 2017|title=Chambers v. Babbitt, 145 F. Supp. 2d 1068 (District of Minn. 2001)|url=http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/freedoms/case.aspx?id=1691|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011193355/http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/freedoms/case.aspx?id=1691|archive-date=October 11, 2017|access-date=August 28, 2021|work=First Amendment Schools: Speech|publisher=First Amendment Center}}</ref>

In 2010, in response to suicides among LGBTQ people, an Ally Week was held at St. Charles North High School in St. Charles, Illinois. On the first day of this Ally Week, three students arrived wearing "Straight Pride" T-shirts. The back of these T-shirts displayed "Leviticus 20:13," a Bible verse stating that men who perform homosexual acts should be put to death. While the school did not force the students to remove their T-shirts, it did persuade them to remove the Bible quotation. The following day, two different students arrived wearing "Straight Pride" T-shirts without the Bible quotations and were consequently asked to remove their shirts.<ref name="dailyherald">{{cite news|last=Fuller|first=James|date=November 11, 2010|title='Straight Pride' shirts become free speech fight at St. Charles North|newspaper=Daily Herald|url=http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101110/news/711119792/|access-date=August 28, 2021|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="rightseducation">{{Cite web|last=Bland|first=Joseph|date=November 12, 2010|title=Chicago High School Uses 'Straight Pride' Shirts for Rights Education|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-high-school-uses-straight-pride-shirts-for-rights-education|access-date=August 28, 2021|website=Fox News|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Balancing freedom of expression vs. protection of students=== In school environments, straight pride expressions and events have been reviewed within a framework of balancing freedom of expression with the protection of other students. In some situations, disputes have arisen over how schools balance protections for LGBTQ students with freedom of expression.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chambers v. Babbitt, 145 F. Supp. 2d 1068 (D. Minn. 2001) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/145/1068/2421423/ |access-date=2026-04-15 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref>

Schools have restricted clothing that displays references to sexual orientation, sometimes prompting lawsuits. In the Minnesota ''Chambers v. Babbitt'' case, "The court noted that maintaining a school community of tolerance includes tolerance of such viewpoints as expressed by 'Straight Pride' as well as tolerance of homosexuality." Students (including openly gay students) who are valued and respected are "more likely to learn and achieve than students who are not".<ref name="SchoolLegal">{{Cite magazine|last=Mesibov|first=Laurie L.|date=April 1, 2006|title=Schools' Legal Obligations to Gay Students|url=https://www.sog.unc.edu/sites/www.sog.unc.edu/files/articles/article2_18.pdf|magazine=Popular Government}}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Human sexuality}}

* Attraction to transgender people * Heteronormativity * Heterosexism * Homophobia * Gay agenda, disparaging term used by opponents of gay rights activism * Gay Shame, a reaction against the mercantilism and depoliticization of gay pride * Sexual diversity * Opposition to LGBTQ rights * LGBTQ youth vulnerability * Religion and LGBT people ** Homosexuality and religion ** LGBTQ-affirming religious groups ** Transgender people and religion * Same-sex union legislation ** Legal status of same-sex marriage * Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Cite court|litigants=Chambers v. Babbitt|court=United States District Court, D. Minnesota|date=May 17, 2001|url=https://www.leagle.com/decision/20011213145fsupp2d106811110.xml}}

Category:Alt-right Category:Anti-LGBTQ sentiment Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Heterosexuality Category:Homophobia Category:Identity politics Category:Pride (LGBTQ culture) Category:Social conservatism