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Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023

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Can someone steelman why “pride” is still necessary? Seems that you can be gay, bi or trans and it’s more than accepted - there’s a huge increase in kids claiming lgbt status so if there’s stigma it’s not apparent anymore. At what point does it make sense to call a moratorium for social movements that have lost their purpose? What are the “victory conditions” for what homophobia is considered no longer a major issue?

For the same reasons Germans are forced to celebrate year after year the day of their ultimate defeat. The pride in the recent years is about sending a message "resistance is futile".

We don't do that, though. For all of our national self-hate and perpetual condemnation of all that is German, we do not actually celebrate the day of defeat.

Europe Day is on May 9th, the day Russia claims Germany surrendered.

According to EU itself this is not the reason for the Europe Day, though:

Europe Day held on 9 May every year celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historic 'Schuman declaration' that set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe's nations unthinkable. Schuman's proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the European Union.

Considering when it was created and the political circumstances around it, I would guess that the day was chosen deliberately.

It's possible the day was closed deliberately, but even then the probable reason would be to blunt and countersignal the Russian Victory Day, not bolster it.