Utah Gov. Cox replaces ‘Pride Month’ declaration with ‘Fidelity Month’
Gov. Spencer Cox has signed a proclamation designating June as “Fidelity Month” in Utah, effectively replacing the state’s longstanding recognition of Pride Month — a move that critics say sends a deliberate and harmful message to LGBTQ Utahns at a moment of heightened national hostility toward the community.
The declaration cites polling data suggesting that “support for traditional values has significantly declined” and calls on Utahns to recommit to what it describes as core values of “faith, family, and country.” The proclamation includes a quote from founding father John Adams — “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other” — and asserts that “the survival of the United States depends on the shared bonds of faith, family and patriotism.”
Utah joins a handful of other red states that have, in recent years, moved to declare conservative counter-observances to Pride Month in June.
Cox’s proclamation did not arrive without warning. The governor has issued increasingly diluted Pride Month declarations in recent years — a trend that LGBTQ advocates and observers have noted with concern. This year, he declined to issue any Pride declaration at all, instead signing the Fidelity Month proclamation.
For many in Utah’s LGBTQ community, the move represents the culmination of a steady erosion of symbolic recognition from a governor who once distinguished himself as a voice of compassion in a deeply conservative state.
Equality Utah’s senior director of legal and legislative affairs, Marina Lowe, pushed back on the framing of the proclamation, arguing that it presents a false choice.
“I think it’s just the reality that LGBTQ people are people of faith, are people of family, just like any other group of individuals,” Lowe said. “I don’t think that these positions need to be in conflict with one another.”
Lowe emphasized that Pride Month is fundamentally about love, acceptance, and inclusion, and that strong families are defined by stability, love, and commitment, not by adherence to a traditional nuclear-family model.
State Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, issued one of the sharpest responses to the declaration, describing it as a personal and political betrayal.
“I am angry and deeply disappointed by Governor Cox’s decision to replace Pride Month with ‘Fidelity Month,’” Plumb said in a written statement.
Plumb specifically called out the pain felt by LGBTQ Utahns who had extended goodwill to Cox based on his earlier rhetoric regarding compassion and inclusion.
“What makes this especially painful is that many LGBTQ+ Utahns supported leaders who spoke the language of compassion, understanding, and inclusion,” Plumb said. “They showed up, trusted those words, and helped build the coalitions that put those leaders in office. To now see Pride Month deliberately pushed aside feels less like a difference of opinion and more like a betrayal of that trust.”
Plumb did not mince words about what she sees as the proclamation’s underlying message.
“The message sent by this action is clear: at a time when LGBTQ+ people are facing increasing hostility across the country, Utah’s highest elected official chose not to stand with them.”
In closing her statement, Plumb addressed LGBTQ Utahns directly: “You are valued. You are treasured. You are loved. You belong here. No proclamation can erase your contributions, your families, your history, or your humanity. It is Pride Month, and I will continue to celebrate it.
Democrats Counter-Declare Pride Month
The Utah Senate and House Democratic caucuses released a joint statement formally declaring June to be Pride Month — a direct rebuke of the governor’s proclamation.
“The Utah Senate and House Democrats declare June Pride Month, as it has been for many years,” the statement reads. “Pride is part of Utah’s history, and celebrating it today is just as important as ever.”
The caucuses framed their declaration as a response to what they characterized as a deliberate effort to divide Utahns.
“At a time when so many communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, are being targeted and erased, Utah needs leaders who bring people together, not leaders who deliberately look for new ways to divide us,” the statement continued. “We reject the idea that supporting LGBTQ+ Utahns comes at the expense of anyone else. Pride is for everyone. It welcomes every family, every neighbor, and every Utahn who believes that all people deserve respect and the opportunity to thrive.”
What the Proclamation Says
Whereas, a recent opinion poll of Americans showed that support for traditional values has significantly declined;
Whereas, a majority of Americans no longer esteem values like faith, family, patriotism or community involvement;
Whereas, fidelity means dedication to faith, family and country;
Whereas, it is imperative that we recommit ourselves to the pursuit of fidelity;
Whereas, John Adams, a founding father of the United States, said, ‘‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.’’;
Whereas, the survival of the United States depends on the shared bonds of faith, family and patriotism; and
Whereas, it is fitting to observe one month each year to rededicate the United States to its core values;
Now, therefore, I, Spencer J. Cox, governor of the great state of Utah, do hereby declare June, 2026 as Fidelity Month in Utah
