Residents of This CA City are Outraged Over a Planned 'Straight Pride Parade'

Ferlon Webster Jr. | July 25, 2019
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A California city is considering a permit request for a “straight pride parade” and some folks are bent out of shape because of it. 

City officials in Modesto received a request for the parade by the National Straight Pride Coalition — scheduled to take place in August — and are in the final stages of reviewing the application for the event, according to the Los Angeles Times.

When some residents found out about this, they pretty much flipped out. City Hall received an influx of calls and emails of people complaining. Despite the backlash, the city has not backed down.

“Permits to host any event are granted based on operational feasibility, not based on values and certainly not based on any endorsement of beliefs,” Thomas Reeves, community and media relations officer for Modesto, told the LA Times. “So although the city does not share in the beliefs of some groups that choose to hold their events here, we may not be able to deny a permit based on an organization’s values.”

Sounds reasonable enough, but a group of “progressive democrats” see it a little differently.

“Have you ever been fired from a job for being straight?” the Modesto Progressive Democrats posted to Facebook in response to a Stanislaus County Straight Pride Parade flier. “Have you been banned from the USA for being Christian? No? That’s because it’s Straight pride day EVERY DAY.”

“People are shocked and blown away that this kind of event could happen in our community,” Chris Ricci, president of Modesto Progressive Democrats, said.

One might say this group is forgetting that the First Amendment goes both ways — no pun intended.

Don Grundmann, an organizer for the event, told the outlet the parade is meant to promote traditional values.

“We’re promoting many different things: heterosexuality, masculinity, femininity, babies, born and especially unborn, the nuclear family of men, women and children — everything that made our country great,” he said.

A counter-protest to the parade is expected as the “progressives” claim this event is just a “thinly veiled hate organization.”

If you have “gay pride parades” it only makes sense that at some point someone was going to start throwing “straight pride parades.” You use your First Amendment rights and they use theirs. In the end, you can’t get mad they benefited from the law the same way you did.

H/T: The Washington Times

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