06/10/2024
June is here and rainbow flags everywhere are poised and ready. So, let’s talk about Pride.
Long before GSM was even a popular acronym in Libertarian circles, the Libertarian Party was crusading for the human rights and property rights of gender and sexual minorities. We dared to ask why the government had any authority to issue marriage licenses when Republicans and Democrats wouldn’t even touch the issue. We championed GSM business owners who were being targeted by government agencies. We criticized the FDA (and Fauci) for their treatment of gender and sexual minorities during the AIDS crisis. All this when we were a relatively new party on the scene and it was a risk to speak out.
Why? Because the individual matters. Because every human being born on this planet has inalienable rights that belong to them; they are not granted by an outside force, democratically elected or not. Many Libertarians are GSM themselves.
We still hold to all those values. Because of this, we believe Libertarians should honor our legacy within the Pride movement and continue our participation. The fruits of this legacy can be seen with the nomination of Chase Oliver-Libertarian as the 2024 Libertarian Party nominee for President, who was introduced to the LP at a Pride event.
Libertarians should engage with others seeking love, peace, and equality. We rebuke those who wish to commit acts of aggression and deny free speech, especially those who purport to be a part of peaceful movements.
Libertarians must stand firm in their principles and never abandon their place in the fight for GSM equality rights, despite the fringe elements of the Pride movement. We must vehemently oppose any efforts to deprive gender and sexual minorities of their rights.
There are legitimate concerns about suggestive and vulgar displays in front of children on public streets, or about inappropriate materials in public school. Community standards should be set at the local level with input from the community, including from Libertarians.
Libertarians also believe children cannot make informed decisions and state-funded sports programs should be fair.
Libertarians believe markets are liberating. The success of GSM equality rights demonstrates why we believe voluntary market forces and cultural shifts can influence state reforms like marriage equality and repealing laws that prohibit consensual sexual behaviors between adults.
We believe that Pride is a good way to honor the GSM Libertarian legacy and a good avenue to continue spreading our ideas, including our opposition to central banking, social credit, corporatism, war, and the subversion of free markets.
So, when we step back and look at the whole picture, from the Libertarians’ history with this movement to its current state of action, we are officially proclaiming pride in our unwavering support of the equality rights of gender and sexual minorities. We should be as unwavering in our involvement with the Pride movement as our unwavering condemnation of unjust war and bureaucratic incompetence.
We Libertarians are still here. We still fight the same fight. The principles are the same. And we will not disregard our legacy.
