Sky New host Caleb Bond has voiced his concern that there are too many Pride celebrations.

Bond, who hosts The Late Debate alongside James Macphearson and Liz Storer, highlighted that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently referred to a “season of pride”.

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The newspaper columnist and TV host highlighted that Pride had been celebrated through June, but Australia had also hosted World Pride back in March.

Bond noted that Trudeau had recently used the phrase “season of Pride” in a post to social media suggesting that the LGBTIQA+ communities were now aiming to adopt an entire season.

“So, we’ve moved beyond Pride month now, just when you thought it was over there’s a whole season coming.” Bond said.

He had further proof to add to his conspiracy theory too. The USA’s Deputy Secretary of Health Admiral Rachel Levine said in a recent interview it was the “summer of Pride”.

“The Summer of Pride? What are we coming to?” Bond asked before saying it was “no surprise” that there was an increase in younger people identifying as being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender compared to previous generations.

“A month is not good enough for LGBTIQA+ people, we’ve got to give them a whole season! It’s no wonder when you look at the numbers going through the roof.” Bond said turning to a recent poll from Gallup that showed 19.7 per cent of Generation Z members in the USA identify as LGBT.

Bond lamented that there was only “one day a year for our war veterans”.

We’re not sure which day Bond was referring to for war veterans, ANZAC Day on 25th of April or Remembrance Day on 11th November.

We accept he may not be aware of Vietnam Veteran’s Day on 18th August, Korean Veteran’s Day on 27th July or Malaya and Borneo Veteran’s Day on 31st August. We also have Veteran’s Health Week in Australia, that runs in the first week of October.

As he was referring to the International Pride Month celebrations that are based around the Stonewall Riots in the USA, we also note that May is National Military Appreciation Month in the USA, and all of November is Veteran’s month.

Bond complained that the Pride movement was “unstoppable” and soon there would be a declaration of “Pride Century”.

“We don’t need a whole month every year.” Bond said.

C0-host Liz Storer said the rising number of people identifying as being gay and transgender should be attributed to “social contagion”, a widely unproven theory that she regularly promotes on the program.

“Kids are being taught things, introducing there little malleable minds to ideas at a very young age. That’s where I would argue these kinds of stats, they are starting to come through.” Storer said.

Storer went on to describe Pride celebrations as “propaganda brain washing”.

In 2022 a new study looked into the idea that the increasing number of young people identifying as a transgender could be attributed to “social contagion”, the theory that behaviours, emotions, or conditions spreading spontaneously through a group or network.

Research published in the journal Pediatrics found no evidence that social contagion was driving the number of people identifying as transgender.

The study’s senior author, Dr Alex S. Keuroghlian, director of the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center at the Fenway Institute and the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Gender Identity Program, said there was no proof that social contagion was a factor.

“The hypothesis that transgender and gender diverse youth assigned female at birth identify as transgender due to social contagion does not hold up to scrutiny and should not be used to argue against the provision of gender-affirming medical care for adolescents.” Dr Keuroghlian said last year.

The concept of social contagion in relation to transgender youth was sparked by a 2018 paper by Dr Lisa Littman who coined the term ‘rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD)’. After Litman’s study was published the authoring journal was forced to publish a clarification noting that her study was not of transgender youth themselves, but of their parents. They also highlighted that there is no formal recognised formal mental health diagnosis of RGOD.

While the USA’s Pride month aligns with the 1969 Stonewall Riots and the northern hemisphere’s summer, Australia’s Pride celebrations match up with significant local historical events.

While the original 1978 Mari Gras parade occurred in June, it is commemorated in March when the weather is much fairer, maximising tourist opportunities from the world-famous event.

Western Australia’s Pride celebrations also take place in summer, the November month long celebration aligns with the decriminalisation of homosexuality which occurred in 1990.

Graeme Watson 

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