Mormon couple savagely mocked after flying ‘family values flag’ during Pride Month
A Mormon couple has been mocked for planting a so-called ‘family values’ flag in their back garden as a protest to Pride Month.
Twitter user April Wilde Despain published a photo on Friday (2 June) of her and her husband standing next to a flag covered in a wall of text, detailing the Mormon Family Proclamation.
The statement, published by senior members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church) in 1995, purports homophobic claims that marriage is only valid in God’s plan if it is between a man and a woman.
It further argues that any deviation from what it views as “family values” would lead to “calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets”.
In her post, Despain wrote: “We heard June was the month to hang up flags celebrating our personal beliefs about gender, sexuality, and identity. So we hung up ours.”
The Mormon couple’s post was almost immediately bombarded with ridicule over Despain’s attempt to subvert Pride Month with a single flag containing text so small it appears barely visible up close.
“This is what happens when your only entertainment in life is Church,” one user wrote, while another said: “I think you misunderstood how flags are supposed to work. They are quick identifiers – you don’t print a whole story on a flag.”
Some noted the husband’s T-shirt featuring New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, both members of which are widely known to be supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.
Others took the chance to get creative with the picture, editing the flag to make it more nonsensical or just plain gay.
it’s beautiful! https://t.co/qKXDMkfWzO pic.twitter.com/rYMJgFnLqg
— Joey Monda (@joeymonda) June 3, 2023
Fixed it for you
https://t.co/JcJo66srOc pic.twitter.com/sTNT5CIXjs
— Linyela (@itsmeLinyela) June 2, 2023
Despain has since made multiple comments hitting back against the wave of mockery, calling pro-LGBTQ+ Pride flags a “weapon” against homophobes.
She then posted a picture of an American flag that was erected next to the Mormon proclamation, having the audacity to quote Elton John in the follow-up.
Thanks for all the “love, tolerance, and inclusion” my family has experienced as a result of stating our beliefs about gender, sexuality, identity, and love.Here’s my response: I’m still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
pic.twitter.com/KByAXcdlAa
— April Wilde Despain (@AprilDespain) June 3, 2023
“A new day, a new pair of tapered sweatpants and cargo shorts,” she continued. “We believe that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of his children.”
The LDS Church does much more than simply oppose same-sex marriage. Sections of the religious movement have completely banned homosexuality in institutions that it owns, including Brigham Young University (BYU).
Gay Mormons are routinely sent death threats and are seen as lesser than their heterosexual peers, while many are expelled from the Church completely.
BYU professor Sarah Coyne was hit with a wave of hate on Twitter in March after she told a class of students that she has a trans child.
The student-run newspaper Cougar Chronicle, which routinely misgendered the child, criticised Coyne for affirming her trans daughter.
Meanwhile, Republican senator Mike Lee joined the Twitter pile-on, retweeting the newspaper’s article with the caption: “Commonplace at most universities, but BYU?”