Backlash is growing over what many see as national LGBT observances upstaging honoring United States veterans.
Pride Month has long followed Memorial Day, but U.S. Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx told The Epoch Times that this year was different, with a huge movement led by the government to swap out American flags for LGBT flags at military installations, including several Veterans Affairs facilities and cemeteries.
“I truly believe we are at a place in this country where the state—starting with the Biden administration—is actually trying to turn LGBTQ+ into a religious cult,” said Marx, who served several tours, including on the front lines in active combat against the ISIS terrorist group.
Now a minister, Marx is also the founder of All Things Possible, which provides trauma relief for veterans and civilians from militant countries. The 59-year-old likened the replacement of the “symbol of America” with a Pride flag to spitting in the face of veterans and families “who have lost loved ones in the line of duty.”
Terrence Hayes, press secretary for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, defended the flying of LGBT flags. In a statement released to The Epoch Times, he said it’s a “symbol of VA’s commitment to inclusion and as a tribute to the service and sacrifice of LGBTQ+ Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
According to Hayes, more than 1 million United States military veterans are from the LGBT community.
Grooming of America
Carl Boyanton, with six uncles who served in World War II, has long been involved in laying wreaths and flags on the graves of veterans throughout Mississippi.He told The Epoch Times he believes that infiltrating the military with LGBT flags and national observances is part of an effort to groom Americans to accept what he called the “growing debauchery” of a movement that has nothing to do with patriotism. He pointed to activities during Pride Month such as homosexual bondage shows and other hypersexualized, explicit conduct at events “billed family friendly.”
“I respect all veterans, but Memorial Day and Veterans Day are about serving our country, not who you have sex with,” Boyanton said.
Marx and other veterans who spoke to The Epoch Times said they believe that the gay community has been hijacked by a radical movement that no longer has anything to do with gay rights.
Gays Against Groomers is one of several organizations that have made similar assertions and decried Pride Month for taking precedence over honoring veterans.
“It has to be said that it is absolutely atrocious that our ‘community’ gets an entire month (and now season in many cases) dedicated to us, while the brave heroes who gave their lives to defend our nation get only a single day. We do not want the month. Give it to them,” the group, which has protested drag queen shows and transgender procedures for children, wrote on Twitter.
In addition to Pride Month in June, October is designated LGBT History Month. There is also a Non-Binary Awareness Week, which starts on July 11, and International Drag Day (July 16).
Other LGBT days recently observed include Pansexual and Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day (May 24); International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (May 17); and Lesbian Visibility Day (April 26).
In March, there was a National LGBTQ Health Awareness Week, and March 31 has been designated International Transgender Day of Visibility.
Coming up is Celebrate Bisexuality Day (Sept. 23), and the National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (Sept. 27).
LGBT History Month features National Coming Out Day (Oct. 11), and International Pronouns Day on the third Wednesday of October.
In November, Veterans Day falls between Intersex Day of Remembrance (Nov. 8), and Transgender Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20).
Outrage over the growing LGBT commemorations has even reached the liberal East Coast.
Popular Boston conservative talk radio host Jeff Kuhner recently fielded calls from listeners angry over the growing number of national observances for the LGBT community.
“They act like they fought at Normandy,” Kuhner said.
At least 2,500 U.S. soldiers died during the Normandy invasion on D-Day.
Some veterans have decried the proximity of Pride Month to Memorial Day.
“Memorial Day, which falls on Monday, is a solemn occasion dedicated to honoring the brave individuals who fought and sacrificed their lives for our country. Unfortunately, it seems that every year, this important day is overshadowed by the prominence of pride month,” Army veteran T.J. Michaels wrote on Twitter.
In Mississippi on June 5, protests erupted when U.S. flags flying over the VA Medical Center and Biloxi National Cemetery were replaced with rainbow flags, an action that was authorized by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough.
Boyanton said a 24-hour police guard was posted to keep watch in the cemetery to protect the flag against vandalism.
He said he asked one of the officers assigned to guard the site what would happen if he were to burn a gay pride flag.
“He told me if it was an American flag, he would have to stand down because I was exercising my First Amendment rights, but if it was a pride flag, it would be considered a hate crime and he'd have to arrest me,” Boyanton said.
Earlier this week, veterans—including gay veterans—gathered at the Walk of Honor site in Fresno, California, to protest the replacement for the first time of one of the three flags with an LGBT flag at the war memorial.
Established in 2017, the Walk of Honor site includes a memorial etched with 1,359 names of U.S. service members. Of them, 48 have a gold star next to their names that signifies that they were killed in action.
Until this year, the site had been marked, without interruption, by the POW/MIA flag, the American flag, and the Veterans Administration flag.
The replacement of a display of American flags and a giant pride flag at the White House to kick off Pride Month incited a firestorm of protests by veterans who also pointed out that the executive residence was unadorned for Memorial Day.
A flag swap at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy enraged at least one parent, who asked to remain anonymous. The private school, one of the most prestigious military training schools in the country, spoke with The Epoch Times but ultimately declined to comment.
Boyanton said the government’s agenda “to promote a sexualized special interest group is evidenced by the exclusion of other special interest groups.”
May was Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, he noted.
“I didn’t see any Asian American and Pacific Islander flags flown at the White House or VA cemeteries.”
Marx, who is still involved in military rescue operations in foreign countries, said he is worried that the government is intentionally emasculating the military.
Like the indoctrination going on in schools, the government, he believes, is targeting the youth that make up the military branches and the usual recruits to replenish the U.S. armed forces.
Marx pointed to an image the U.S. Marines recently posted on its social media pages of a row of rainbow-colored bullets strapped to a combat helmet.
“We are celebrating indoctrinating young boys to become effeminate,” he said. “That’s dangerous beyond words.”
