June 12, 1963 In the driveway outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi, civil rights leader Medgar Evers was shot to death by white supremacist Byron De la Beckwith, who was not convicted until 1994 after an extensive investigation by Jackson, Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger newspaper. He was tried and acquitted twice by with all-white juries, members of which had been influenced by the Ku Klux Klan. Following one of the trials, then-Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett stood by Beckwith’s side and shook his hand. The whole sad story The role of the Clarion-Ledger
June 12, 1964 Nelson Mandela, a 46-year-old lawyer and a leader of the opposition to South Africa’s racially separatist apartheid system, was convicted of sabotage in the Rivonia Trial and sentenced to life imprisonment. Nelson Mandela, 1963 From Mandela’s statement to the court prior to sentencing: “ I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” The trial of Mandela and seven other African National Congress compatriots
June 12, 1967 The U.S. Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia struck down state miscegenation laws, those that prohibited interracial marriage, as violations of a person’s right to equal protection under the law, as guaranteed under the 14th amendment. Mildred and Richard Loving In June of 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, a white man and an African-American woman, had married in Washington, D.C. Upon return to their home state of Virginia, the couple was arrested, convicted of a felony, and sentenced to a year in prison. The appeal of their conviction led to the decision. Contemporary thoughts on the case “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.” From Chief Justice Earl Warren’s majority opinion in Loving v. Virginia Watch trailer for the movie “Loving” (recommended)
June 12, 1982 In the world’s largest-ever peace demonstration (until the U.S. invasion of Iraq), one million rallied in New York City’s Central Park to support the newly formed Nuclear Freeze Campaign which called for a halt to all nuclear weapons testing worldwide. The biggest demonstration on earth (until the global anti-Iraq war march of Feb 15 2003) took place in New York on June 12, 1982, when one million people gathered in support of the second UN Special Session on Disarmament and to protest nuclear weapons. The origins of the Nuclear Freeze Campaign The demonstration
And, since June is Pride month, there are a lot of Pride activities going on that date, too. Perhaps yours also overlap, and this sign will work for you, too!
Thanks to Chris for permission to share – this design is so great, I had to share it.
Stay safe out there, and wherever you are, please know that you are loved exactly as you are. Whether you can live your life openly or keep parts of yourself hidden, you’re seen and welcomed and loved.”
So many old friends in Wichita deplore the conservatism, and yes, there are more voters voting Republican than Dem (though their Dem party is healthy.) Yet, Wichita loves everyone, and I love that! If you’re lucky the little video player on the page will work, and you can watch the broadcast. https://www.ksn.com/video/ict-big-gay-market-hosts-event-for-3rd-year/9749633
With DEI initiatives firmly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, many large corporations that were once so quick to celebrate June as Pride month have quietly ditched their public support for LGBTQI+ rights even faster.
It used to be common for companies to emblazon their social media accounts with rainbow-themed versions of their logo, but in 2025, the same big businesses that were so vocal about supporting Pride initiatives have fallen silent.
The controversial post that sparked a social media backlash.
That’s certainly true for big international airlines in the United States, which were falling over themselves to show their support for Pride until very recently (critics might argue they were just chasing the so-called ‘Pink Dollar’).
In 2025, the social media accounts of American Airlines, Delta, and United make no mention or reference to Pride, even if these airlines do still support LGBTQ+ initiatives (Alaska and United are still sponsors of San Francisco’s Pride parade even as other big name corporations drop their support).
German flag carrier Lufthansa doesn’t seem too concerned that supporting LGBTQ+ rights is no longer fashionable… at least not in Trump’s America.
On June 2, the airline posted a photo of a pilot waving a Pride rainbow flag out the window of a cockpit, captioned with the words: “Carried with pride, waved with passion. We will always spread the love, across borders, screens, and the skies.”
Lufthansa has been quick to respond to critics.
It seemed like a pretty inoffensive and inspiring message that didn’t directly reference LGBTQ+ rights, but it didn’t take long for Lufthansa’s Facebook page to be deluged with homophobic comments.
But it looks like Lufthansa knew exactly what it was getting itself into, and its social media team quickly fired back at critics with sassy replies that shut down the hateful comments without censoring them or turning off the comment feature altogether.
“Thank you for you for giving me a reason not to be a Lufthansa passenger,” one person wrote underneath the post. Lufthansa clapped back with: “You’re welcome to join us on board whenever rainbows are not scary to you anymore!”
While one person inferred that inclusivity was a safety issue, saying: “That could actually affect the flight of the plane. I’ll take the bus.”
Lufthansa was not having any of it, though, relying: “It is a disappointment that we are losing you as a customer for this reason, but we stand by our values.”
Another referenced DEI, saying: “Never flying on a plane with one of them pilots. You know they are a DEI hire. I’m not testing fate for their delusional world.”
Again, Lufthansa stood firm: “Sorry to see you go but we stand by our values and will continue to implement DEI.”
Many responses to the post have, however, been positive, and some fans have pointed out that the response has proved exactly why, even in 2025, Pride is still needed.
June has traditionally been recognized as Pride Month to mark the Stonewall riots that occurred in late June 1969. Since then, several US presidents have issued proclamations, declaring June as the month of Pride, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week that President Trump has no plans to issue a similar proclamation this year.
Trump was, however, the first Republican President to acknowledge LGBT Pride Month back in 2019 when he Tweeted a message in support of the commemoration.
Homophobia during Pride Month? Not on Nick Offerman’s watch.
In what would prove to be a woefully misguided attempt to dunk on LGBTQ+ people, Michael Flynn Jr. (who, according to his X bio is the son of General Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s national security advisor for 22 days in 2017) posted to X to share a GIF from the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. The moment, taken from the episode “The Trial of Leslie Knope,” shows Offerman’s character Ron Swanson throwing his computer into a dumpster. However, the GIF Flynn shared had been edited to show Swanson tossing a rainbow Pride flag into the dumpster. (snip-embedded tweet on the page)
“Just wanted to show how I feel about pride month,” Flynn Jr. wrote.
Offerman, who also recently starred as half of a gay couple in the first season of The Last of Us, was not willing to let this mischaracterization of Swanson stand. (snip-see embedded tweet on the page)
“Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb fuck,” Offerman wrote in a tweet that quoted Flynn’s original. He added a “#HappyPride” hashtag. At the time of writing, more than 429,000 people have faved the post.
Offerman’s Swanson played best man during a same-sex wedding in the series finale, which saw Swanson’s hairdresser Typhoon marry Craig, a member of the Parks and Recreation staff.
Several X users also clapped back at Flynn’s post. (snip-embedded tweet, see it on the page)
“The man in this gif is currently mourning the murder of his co-star Jonathan Joss, who was harassed for months, had his house burned down and his dog killed and before being shot by a homophobic freak like you,” wrote Hamish Steele, creator of the animated show Dead End: Paranormal Park. “You find pride annoying? Big deal. We get killed by your lot.”
Just one day after defending the existence of Pride Month, Offerman issued a statement to People about the death of his Parks and Rec co-star Jonathan Joss, who was killed in what his husband says was a homophobic attack following years of anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and threats. (San Antonio police say they have found “no evidence to indicate that Mr. Joss’s murder was related to his sexual orientation.”)
“The cast has been texting together about it all day and we’re just heartbroken,” Offerman said. “Jonathan was such a sweet guy and we loved having him as our Chief Ken Hotate. A terrible tragedy.”
As maddening as it is to have to defend Pride during Pride, it’s always nice when a straight ally is willing to take homophobia right to the dumpster.
With DEI initiatives firmly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, many large corporations that were once so quick to celebrate June as Pride month have quietly ditched their public support for LGBTQI+ rights even faster.
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