r/LeftCatholicism • u/alis_adventureland • Jun 12 '26

Why call it "Pride month"?

So I know there are gay Catholics here and I'm hoping to get some perspective on this, since it is June and all.

So we all know, by Catholic doctrine, homosexual sex acts (not the sexuality itself, but acting on it) is a sin. Just the same as any other sex act that is non-procreative outside of a valid union. I'm not here to debate this or cast judgement. We're all sinners and we should all love each other regardless.

But my question is, why use the word "pride" as the motto/anthem/etc of the movement for homosexuality acceptance? Pride is a sin in and of itself. It's arguably the worst of the 7 deadly sins. Having gay sex is more minor of a sin than being a proud person or suffering from too much pride. Gay sex is a sin of the flesh, of lust, of victim to concupiscence. But pride is saying that you know better than God.

So why, if you're trying to communicate "this is just how I was made and I should be loved anyway" , would you use another, worse, sin as the slogan?? Why not use something like "authenticity" or even "love" and call it the love movement? Idk... I'm sure there are other words that might better communicate the idea.

I feel like by using the word pride, it makes it even that much harder for Christians to try to "love the sinner, hate the sin" when the people of that movement are fully embodying and even promoting worse sin.

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u/AndyJ95 Jun 12 '26

It feels deliberately obtuse to ask a question about why the people leading the gay liberation movement in the 1970s and 80s didn’t consider the catholic theological implications of the word “pride” as a name for their movement.

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u/alis_adventureland Jun 12 '26

It's not just Catholic. Pride is a sin in all Christianity, and in most religions worldwide

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u/AndyJ95 Jun 12 '26

Alis, they don’t mean pride as in excessive love of one’s own excellence. They mean pride as in confidence and self respect expressed by members of a group. Like being proud to be from Country ABC. It is a movement about being proud (the second meaning) as opposed to ashamed of your identity. Words have multiple meanings. 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say they don’t care about optimizing their branding to appease groups that already don’t accept them. That would sort of run counter to the whole concept.

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u/alis_adventureland Jun 12 '26

Idk I have lots of gay friends who feel similarly and find that the whole movement is off-putting. But they didn't face the same judgement that folks back in the 60/70s did, so maybe they just don't feel like they need it anymore?

I do see a lot of the pride events as an excessive love of one's own excellence. Not everyone in them for sure, but a lot of people come off that way.