'Going to have some confrontation'

LGBTQ advocates have long allied themselves with diversity, equity and inclusion groups. Yet DEI’s legal troubles are causing some corporate sponsors to end their support for Pride activities. Soon, Pride advocates may have legal problems of their own. That’s bad for Pride organizers, but it’s good for parents because rulings could spell out protections for parents and children from explicit sexual material in schools. An April survey of corporate executives found that 39% of respondents “plan to reduce Pride-related engagement in 2025,” with 61% of these business leaders citing “pressure” from the White House as the primary reason for dropping support. Some Pride organizations are reeling: Businesses such as Mastercard, Pepsi, Comcast and more did not contribute to Pride events—in fact, San Francisco’s Pride organizations saw fundraising fall by $200,000. New York City’s Pride fundraising dropped by 20%, while Salt Lake City’s Pride fundraising is down by nearly half a million dollars. Companies were more interested in supporting Pride events and their DEI partners when federal officials allowed DEI offices in corporations and on university campuses to skirt civil rights laws. According to Forbes, corporate fundraising for DEI “peaked” between 2016 and 2022, which happened to cover much of President Joe Biden’s administration. That administration did not call companies, universities and other organizations to account for DEI activities that may have violated the Civil Rights Act, such as racial favoritism in hiring. But things have changed: In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against racial preferences—a centerpiece of DEI programming—in college admissions and beyond. State lawmakers continue to adopt proposals that prohibit the use of taxpayer spending on DEI offices, with Tennessee’s prohibition providing a recent example. The new White House is enforcing the civil rights laws that DEI offices would rather skirt. As a result, fewer businesses are finding room in their budgets for DEI and related efforts such as Pride parades. In the fall, Heritage Foundation research found that more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies had stepped back from DEI, including Walmart and Microsoft. More corporations have done the same since. Meanwhile, Robby Starbuck, now a visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation, has exposed corporations’ DEI activities on social media, precipitating a host of C-suite decisions to drop DEI programs. DEI as a movement is on the wane in the education and business sectors. This week, the State University System of Florida Board of Governors rejected a presidential prospect for the state’s flagship university because of his prior support for DEI. Target, the retail giant, had made headlines for the company’s support of DEI and Pride causes. Now, however, the company has tempered its advocacy so much that Pride advocates in Minneapolis rejected a Target donation to Pride month activities. DEI-favored policies, including the use of racial preferences in human resource policies and school admissions, likely violate civil rights statutes—giving corporations plenty of reasons to step back from support. Yet DEI programs and Pride organizations have overlapping ideologies that, while not always illegal, are unpopular with voters, especially parents. For example, DEI offices support drag shows, as do, unsurprisingly, Pride organizations. Stories of children being exposed to drag shows—and sometimes even of public schools hosting drag shows—have shocked parents. In Chicago this week, drag show “story time” advocates faced stiff opposition from parents who did not want toddlers—children barely old enough to walk—exposed to graphic sexual displays at a public library. In response, state lawmakers have introduced proposals that keep drag shows away from school grounds. But state lawmakers should also consider proposals that require school personnel to inform parents of such programming and give families the opportunity to opt out. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case in which parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, were denied the opportunity to remove their children from lessons involving sexually themed LGBTQ books. If the court rules in the parents’ favor and Pride advocates insist on pushing sexually charged material in schools, businesses will gain yet another reason not to fund Pride month activities. Pride’s allegiance to DEI has pushed corporate sponsors away. The movement’s own inability or unwillingness to shield children from sexually explicit content continues to alienate parents. The list of reasons—cultural, legal and political—for businesses to distance themselves from DEI and Pride is only growing. Originally published by The Washington Times. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Corporate Sponsors Are Pulling Back From Pride appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Southern Baptist Convention held its annual conference this week, and delegates narrowly voted against eliminating the public policy arm, which has been accused of advancing left-wing ideology. Delegates, which the SBC calls “messengers,” gathered in Dallas, Texas from June 8-11 for the annual meeting. The effort to abolish the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission failed by around 950 votes, which ERLC critics say serves as a wake-up call for reform. ERLC has been accused of pushing social justice initiatives like critical race theory and gun control. ERLC President Brent Leatherwood has lobbied for gun control under a pro-life banner and led a group to block the release of the transgender Nashville shooter’s writings. Former ERLC president, Russell Moore, repeatedly denounced President Donald Trump, even though the majority of Southern Baptists voted for him. In 2020, he called the president “reality TV moral sewage” and criticized the Republican Party for aligning with him. ERLC Vice President Miles Mullin denies that the branch advocates for critical race theory. “Following the clear teaching of Scripture and in alignment with the Baptist Faith & Message, the ERLC supports Christian unity across ethnic and socioeconomic lines,” Mullin told The Daily Signal, “but we do not advocate for, endorse, or deploy critical race theory.” The effort to abolish ERLC failed by around 950 votes, which ERLC critics say serves as a wake up call for reform. About 57% voted to support the ERLC, and 43% voted to abolish it. “This is a difficult loss, but it is far from a victory for the ERLC. It demonstrates how little faith ordinary Southern Baptists have in the entity,” said Megan Basham, author of “Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda.” “That the vote is this close when the conditions are MOST favorable and the deck was stacked in allowing Leatherwood extensive stage time to defend his entity when the other side was not offered the same amount of time to make its case speaks volumes,” Basham continued. Critics of the Baptist public policy arm say the convention advantaged ERLC in the vote by giving Leatherwood opportunities to promote his work. ERLC was able to distribute literature in every seat in the convention, and it used the SBC email list to direct messengers to vote against the motion to abolish it. Can entities use their email lists to direct messengers to vote in specific ways? #SBC25 pic.twitter.com/a0kEmLqmBu— Ben Purves (@benpurves) June 11, 2025 In response, Mullin told The Daily Signal that ERLC participated in no unusual or out of the ordinary practices this year. “Every year, each SBC entity, including the ERLC, gives a report to the entire Convention,” Mullin said. “Often entities distribute resources to messengers as part of that report. That is all we did.” The vote showed that unless ERLC undergoes massive reform and stops associating with secular, left-wing groups, it will be abolished at a future convention, Basham said. “The ERLC does not associate with and is not influenced by secular, left-wing groups,” Mullin said in response. “We take our marching orders from the Scripture, the Baptist Faith & Message, and actions taken by our messengers, at times working with coalitions to advance the things that Southern Baptists care about most.” Between 2018 and 2021, ERLC received $150,000 from eBay founder and longtime Democrat donor Pierre Omidyar, Basham reported. The Fetzer Foundation, which gets money from Bill Gates, has given ERLC $220,000. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg gave another $90,000. This is a difficult loss, but it is far from a victory for the ERLC. It demonstrates how little faith ordinary Southern Baptists have in the entity. That the vote is this close when the conditions are MOST favorable and the deck was stacked in allowing Leatherwood extensive stage… pic.twitter.com/aSfxa5639M— Megan Basham (@megbasham) June 11, 2025 Some Baptists say the large percentage of votes against ERLC demonstrate that Leatherwood should step down. “If a pastor only had 56.89% support from his congregation, he would step down tomorrow,” said executive director of the Center for Baptist Leaders, William Wolfe. “Either way, this level of lack of confidence in the ERLC demonstrates that Leatherwood and current trustees should be replaced,” Basham wrote. “Leaders of Southern Baptist entities serve at the pleasure of their board of trustees,” Mullin said in response. “These trustees from across the country are faithful pastors and laypeople who are independently selected and approved by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting and are accountable to them. If a pastor only had 56.89% support from his congregation, he would step down tomorrow. What will Brent Leatherwood do? pic.twitter.com/HOl5tfCeaZ— William Wolfe ?? (@William_E_Wolfe) June 11, 2025 While some theologically and politically conservative Baptists left the SBC disappointed in ERLC’s survival, they returned to their home churches with other causes of celebration. Messengers at the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention were responsible for “passing the most conservative slate of resolutions we’ve ever done,” according to David Closson, a messenger from Capitol Hill Baptist Church in the District of Columbia, and author of “Life After Roe: Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today.” Closson introduced a successful resolution titled “On Standing Against the Moral Evils and Medical Dangers of Chemical Abortion Pills.” Yay!! My resolution, “On Standing Against the Moral Evils and Medical Dangers of Chemical Abortion Pills,” has been officially passed at #SBC25! Very grateful for @andrewtwalk and the Resolutions Committee for their hard work on this resolution and the others. The nation’s… pic.twitter.com/YL1SiFhLHn— David Closson (@DavidClosson) June 10, 2025 Convention attendees also voted to pass a resolution titled “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family,” which called for overturning the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell v. Hodge. Another resolution that passed was titled “On Banning Pornography.” It asked lawmakers to “enact comprehensive laws” banning “pornographic content in all media” and provide mechanisms “to eradicate pornography nationwide.” However, biblical conservatives once again did not succeed in amending the SBC constitution to clarify that the only kind of church in friendly cooperation with the convention is one that “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” While 61% of messengers voted for the amendment, it barely missed the required 66% supermajority to pass. The Baptist Faith and Message already makes clear that the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. But in 2023, Mike Law, a Baptist pastor from Arlington, Virginia, discovered about 1,800 female pastors in SBC churches, leading him to introduce the Law Amendment. Last year’s SBC rejected the amendment because opponents felt it was not necessary due to the position being stated in the Baptist Faith and Message. Opponents of this year’s Law Amendment argued that if the SBC constitution clarifies that the office of pastor is limited to men, the denomination would be at risk of being sued for defamation. Denny Burk, professor at Baptist Theological Seminary, said this argument doesn’t make sense because the constitution already says that cooperating churches must closely identify with SBC beliefs about pastors. “Why would we be in more jeopardy for making it clearer? Our constitution also says that churches that endorse homosexuality, racism, and abuse are not in friendly cooperation,” Burk said. “Should we remove prohibitions on homosexuality, racism, and abuse from the constitution because of legal risk? If not, then why would clarity about a prohibition on female pastors be a problem?” A strong majority of SBC messengers voted in favor of the Sanchez/Law amendment (61%), but it fell short of the required supermajority (66%). So that effort is now dead. Some take-aways:1. It is very clear that majorities of messengers at the last three conventions want this… pic.twitter.com/mNVkYrLkwE— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) June 11, 2025 Still Burk said he hopes the SBC got the message that the majority of Southern Baptists oppose female pastors. “I hope that will help them to hold the line on our confession of faith,” Burk said. “If they don’t, then I suspect we will have to adjudicate more membership challenges on the floor of the convention.” Though there is more work to be done, Closson said most messengers left the SBC hopeful about the future. “I think most people, when they left Dallas, were very happy and encouraged,” he said. Note: The author of this article is a member of a Southern Baptist church. The post Southern Baptist Convention Narrowly Avoids Eliminating Branch Accused of Wokeness appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The Woke Right

Sunday Smiles

A Kentucky man was hit with multiple charges in connection with a strange case of unleashing a raccoon in a business during which the animal bit a person, according to police. Previously, the man was arrested for allegedly attempting to flee from police on a mule. The Murray Police Department said it received a complaint about a man intentionally releasing a raccoon inside a business at 9:18 p.m. on June 6. The individual — 40-year-old Jonathan Mason of Murray — purposely turned loose the wild animal and then fled from the business, police said. 'Upon officer arrival, Mason was outside the business and was manifestly under the influence of alcohol.'Police in a statement said that the raccoon bit a person inside the business. Police also noted that Mason previously had been ordered to stay off the property of the business.RELATED: VIDEO: VIDEO: Florida motorcyclists sent 'flying' headfirst after colliding with alligator on highway Murray police officers were able to track down Mason while he was driving his vehicle.Police stated that they conducted a traffic stop, but Mason "refused to roll down his windows or exit the vehicle." Officers were forced to physically remove him from the vehicle after he resisted, police said.Mason was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, third-degree trespassing, resisting arrest, and failure to maintain required insurance, according to jail records.Mason as of Friday morning was still behind bars in the Calloway County Jail. RELATED: Deputies shoot growling Florida man dead after 'bizarre' standoff — and just moments after he survived alligator attack: Cops Mason is no stranger to the Murray Police Department. He was arrested six months ago for another bizarre story involving an animal. Just after 9 p.m. Dec. 7, 2024, officers responded to a "local alcohol establishment" in regard to an "unruly individual." The Murray Police Department said in a statement, "Upon officer arrival, Mason was outside the business and was manifestly under the influence of alcohol.""Mason had ridden a mule to the establishment, and he refused to stop when ordered to by the officer," police added. "As the officer attempted to place Mason under arrest, Mason resisted."According to police, witnesses informed investigators that Mason mistreated the mule, including whipping the mule an “unnecessary amount” of times at a different establishment.Mason was arrested and booked in the Calloway County Jail on second-degree disorderly conduct, third-degree criminal trespassing, alcohol intoxication in a public place, and second-degree cruelty to animals.Just two days later — Dec. 9, 2024 — police said officers were dispatched to the area where this mule had been stabled regarding a seemingly intoxicated male who was "riding a mule down the roadway. An officer located Mason on his mule, but Mason refused to stop for the officer, and he fled on the mule on the roadway. Shortly after fleeing, Mason was arrested and lodged in the Calloway County Jail." Police said he was charged with third-degree fleeing or evading police and second-degree cruelty to animals.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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