I’ve never considered myself very patriotic. Even in grade school, pledging my allegiance to a flag every morning felt forced and uncomfortable.
I recited the words but it all seemed like propaganda to me, well before I really understood what that meant. Particularly the line “one nation under God,” since save for a few misguided years in high school I’ve also never considered myself to be very religious.
That phase of my life ended poorly once I came out, only bolstering my lack of patriotism. U.S. lawmakers were never shy about using their religion to justify anti-LGBTQ+ laws as I grew up, vowing I’d never marry and more, so I rarely felt like a fully recognized citizen. It always put a dampener on things like the Fourth of July, and I hate fireworks anyway.
As far as the pledge goes, I learned as I grew older that like U.S. currency — which didn’t read “In God We Trust” until 1957 — it was initially secular. The modern version’s first iteration was written in 1892 and made no reference to a god, Christian or otherwise.
In fact, it was just a marketing tool written to mark the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus and his “discovery” of America. According to The History Channel, it was a push to assimilate immigrants who were “harmful to the ‘American’ way of life.”
It went through a few minor alterations over the years before the modern version made its 1954 debut. In case you’ve blocked it from your memory or aren’t familiar, it reads: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
I rather like the last bit and don’t harbor any ill will toward folks who recite the pledge, it’s just never been my cup of tea. It’s easy to see why, since Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhour promised after “under God” was added that “millions of our school children will daily proclaim in every city and town, every village and rural schoolhouse, the dedication of our Nation and our people to the Almighty.”
Separation of church and state, anyone? Thankfully students have a constitutional right not to recite the pledge, though you’d have never known about such a “woke” idea in my hometown. The Supreme Court ruled on it in 1943.
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official … can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein,” their opinion reads. Now that’s a country I can get behind.
We’re a nation that knows how to get it right at times — which I think is worth fighting for, just not blindly adoring. The fact that I now have a husband tells me that.
So as we enter 2024, what’s already become a tiring election year, I hope everyone in our community realizes what’s at stake. Especially if this November is a 2020 rematch.
President Joe Biden isn’t a perfect man, but he’s a good one. He’s a public servant who’s supported our community and this country for decades, who unlike his predecessor isn’t an insurrectionist actively working to dismantle our Democracy.
Biden hasn’t appointed Supreme Court justices who’ve stripped Americans of their right to choose or kept them from student debt relief; Trump has. Biden hasn’t enacted racist travel bans, barred transgender Americans from serving in the military or defended white supremacists; Trump has.
The president also hasn’t bragged about committing sexual assault or been found liable by a jury for sexual abuse, which, you guessed it, Trump has. I also like the way Biden isn’t facing 91 criminal charges.
Trump was ill-equipped for the presidency in 2016 and couldn’t have deserved his 2020 defeat more. I’m hopeful that Republicans won’t nominate him this year, but the only thing I think is safe to say at this point is that they won’t be nominating Ron DeSantis.
The only thing messier than the governor’s campaign is what his presidential ambitions have done to Florida, something we examine in this issue. We highlight the nonprofit Elevated Access and how they’re getting LGBTQ+ Floridians the health care he’s worked to deny them.
In news, Metro Inclusive Health details their redistribution of operations, TIGLFF finds itself at a critical juncture and the City of Orlando announces it will take over onePULSE events. We also preview “Company” ahead of the Broadway tour’s stop at the Straz.
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