Every June, television airwaves, business storefronts, and social media are flooded with messages celebrating LGBTQ “Pride Month,” a challenging time for Southern Baptists who uphold the integrity of marriage between one man and one woman in a covenant relationship. The month brings parades through city streets filled with rainbow flags and individuals promoting sexual freedom and promiscuity.
For Southern Baptists, June makes evident that our culture has embraced the sexual revolution and has drifted from the standards of intimacy, sexuality, and identity that Scripture tells us are good for us (Rom. 1:24-27; 1 Cor. 6:9; Col. 3:5). It raises questions about how we should respond to these cultural challenges we see today and continue to honor Christ as we spread the truth of God’s Word to unbelievers and to those wrestling with their sexuality.
For some, the moral question of sexuality may seem peripheral to the Church, but its pervasiveness in culture has also permeated our church pews, youth groups, and dinner tables. Southern Baptists are now faced with the dilemma of how to respond in both truth and love (Eph. 4:15).
What is “Pride Month?”
In 1999, President Bill Clinton issued the first presidential proclamation declaring June to be “Gay and Lesbian Pride Month” on the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
Similar proclamations followed from Presidents Obama from 2009–2016 and Biden from 2021–2024. Though without issuing a proclamation, President Trump became the first Republican president to recognize June as “Pride Month” in 2019. These proclamations slowly expanded over time as the LGBTQ movement began including numerous forms of identities and transgenderism.
While not an official federal holiday, these presidential proclamations have designated June as “Pride Month,” contributing to its mainstream month-long celebration in American public life. During this time, many businesses, sports venues, and some churches display rainbow flags as a disheartening celebration for unbiblical sexuality.
What resources exist for Southern Baptist churches to use in June?
In an effort to come alongside pastors and ministry workers, the ERLC has compiled a guide on issues of gender and sexuality called “God’s Good Design: A practical guide for answering gender confusion.” Opening with a theological framework, the guide explores 20 scenarios Southern Baptist churches may experience and should prepare for as they minister to their communities.
For example, the guide addresses questions such as, “A teen in your church has confided in a youth minister that they are experiencing bouts of gender dysphoria. What action plan is in place to help this teenager?”
The goal of this guide is to equip Southern Baptist churches to be prepared to meet the needs in our culture with the truth of God’s Word and the hope of the gospel, so that we are not caught ill-prepared when presented with the opportunity to minister to those who assert LGBTQ struggles or identities.
You can download the guide for free here or at erlc.com/guides.
How has the ERLC advocated for biblical sexuality in June?
The ERLC has endorsed a resolution in the House of Representatives, H.Res. 475, to redesignate June as “Family Month.” Introduced by Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL-15), the resolution would have the House unrecognize “Pride Month” and establish June as a time to rededicate the nation to the importance of the family unit.
The ERLC continues to advocate for biblical marriage between one man and one woman and against the transgender movement’s predation of children. Legislation such as the Chloe Cole Act and the STOP Act would prohibit any “gender transition” drugs or procedures for minors.
Southern Baptists have made their opposition to “Pride Month” clear as recently as last summer when messengers in Dallas passed the resolution “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family,” saying “that we affirm the duty of lawmakers to pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law—about marriage, sex, human life, and family—and to oppose any law that denies or undermines what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.”
Furthermore, Southern Baptists resolved to commit to “speaking the truth about God’s design with conviction and compassion, trusting that his ways lead to human flourishing, and praying that our nation’s laws and culture would once again reflect the beauty of the world as God created it.”
