We hope for a day when this is a given in our society, but put simply, it is the editorial policy of Valley Sentinel that love is love. Period.
Whatever hang ups one may have, for any reason, do not negate someone else’s right to love another. There is no excuse that would absolve the bigotry of someone feeling the need to interject or interrupt in any way in the love of other people that does not affect them.
Now we’ve gotten that out of the way, you may have noticed a change to Valley Sentinel’s logos. It’s also important to note that it came at the end of Pride Month, and that was intentional, for this year at least, and it will continue while this edition in on newsstands.
In the past few years we’ve gotten used to not only wonderful expressions of Pride from members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies, but also expressions from corporate America. Every major corporation seems to have a rainbow logo, perhaps this year more than most. To us it is important to differentiate between corporate virtue signaling and actual support, allyship and equality.
The LGBTQ+ community includes our friends, family, contributors and more. They deserve more than a rainbow logo for a month each year. While a broad swath of large corporations changed their logo for the month of June, we invite you to look at the political and social contributions of many of them. You’ll find that many, but not all, give to causes and groups that would seek to disenfranchise the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.
To quote a favorite here: “Human progress isn’t measured by industry. It’s measured by the value you place on a life, an unimportant life, a life without privilege… That’s what defines an age. That’s what defines a species.”
This is important, because simply — no life is unimportant. But in a time when bills across the country, including right here in Wisconsin, seek to legislate and codify bigotry with form letter proposals seeking to create solutions for problems that largely don’t exist.
If there is a perceived need to devalue another’s life or an expression of love out of a belief that those things would negatively affect your own, we’re not sure what more can be said to such a lost cause on the wrong side of the arc of justice and equality.
It is as good a time as any for us to all be reminded of the roots of Pride Month, from gay liberation marches to the Stonewall riots and more. It feels good to wear rainbows and change logos for a month, but they mean very little if we as a society don’t stand in defense of equality for all and against the devaluing of a single life, each and every month.