Reflections on Pride in a Time of Doubt

By Steven Meyer

I am haunted by this scene in Monroe just prior to the 2020 election in which a group of adult men rallied by the name, “Proud Boys” beside the Custer Statue. Only a few actual young people showed up to confront them with rainbow pride flags and Black Lives Matter signs. The police were called in after one of the Proud Boys shouted a dehumanizing slur to the face of a young girl, and lunged at another woman to slap the phone out of her hand as she live-streamed video online (1).

This May, four leaders of The Proud Boys were criminally convicted for seditious conspiracy (2). Such legal consequences have not stopped the Proud Boys from continuing to poison our politics, nor from being invited by elected officials to County Commission meetings in Michigan to lobby for resolutions for “gun sanctuaries” (3), and barging into public libraries to disrupt and intimidate readers, and calling to ban books that explore LGBTQ+ topics (4).

Most disturbingly, is how often the demands of the Proud Boys are affirmed legislatively by Monroe’s elected officials at every level: Monroe’s US Congressman, Tim Walberg voted to decertify the electors on January 6 (5); Monroe’s County Commissioners enacted a resolution to make Monroe a, “gun sanctuary” (6); State Representative, Jamie Thompson publicly campaigned to ban books that explore LGBTQ+ topics (7).

When Monroe’s City Council was asked to condemn the Proud Boys for their violent Custer rally, the only member to address it in any specific or meaningful way was Kellie Vining, “they come to places they feel comfortable. For whatever reason, they felt comfortable being in the heart of our city... I don’t know if they expected the pushback, but I’m glad that they received it.” (1)

June is Pride Month. The rainbow flag is inclusive and celebrates, “Consciousness of One’s Own Dignity”, which can get lost in a place like Monroe under our currently elected leaders. If we would rather the Proud Boys not, “feel comfortable” holding more rallies to shout slurs at local children, then it will be necessary for a lot more than those few young people to show up, “pushback”, and color, “the heart of our city” in rainbows. Allies will be needed to campaign and vote for candidates who respect the dignity of all, with any amount of the courage of the young people from that day.