Schweitzer is exploiting Pride

Schweitzer Mountain Resort recently promoted something it calls Pride on the Mountain where its owners, Alterra Mountain Company, may exploit vulnerable people for profit. High ESG and workforce inclusion scores give corporations access to cheaper credit; essential for companies who use debt finance to optimize their capital structure. What does this mean for the rest of us? It means more nonsense. More silly flags and politicization of beloved family places. It means stealing the Christian rainbow while ginning up hostility of them in the name of pride.

Thirteen years ago, my beloved cousin committed suicide. He was a young, good-looking lad whose Yorkshire accent made him very popular with girls as a bartender. This sudden attention made him uneasy. So, he came out gay and simultaneously, certain people entered his life. These new friends took advantage by taking him to pride events in order to be ‘prouder’ of who he was. He told us he disliked the toxic attention-seeking atmosphere at these spectacles. He started to confide in us regrets that he may never be a father. He made the mistake of admitting to his new friends he was not sure if he was gay or not. This is apostasy in the cult and a bomb went off in his life. His so-called friends turned on him; hounding him at work calling him a traitor and breeder. The peer pressure to be gay, and more importantly, to stay gay in pride culture is like nothing you can imagine. He committed suicide alone in his apartment anguished and totally confused despite our love and acceptance. Though invited, not a single one of these friends turned up at his funeral. None.

Pride on the mountain is not about pride. It is a Circus Maximus of mutual exploitation. For some it's an opportunity to thumb their nose at traditional values. For others it’s a chance to profit by reduced interest by hosting such events. For others still it’s an opportunity to expose to the rest of us inner private fetishes. Most important: none of this reduces suicides among the LGBT community according to trend data at HHS ... and my own experience. Shame on everyone involved for exploiting the vulnerable and treating our backyard as a dumping ground for woke toxicity. The silent majority here and everywhere have had a bellyfull of arrogance disguised as pride. 

DEAN CANNON

Sandpoint