Utah News

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared June 2026 “Fidelity Month,” calling for a return to America’s “core values,” as Republican-led states across the country issue various proclamations in reaction to “Pride Month” celebrations.

Utah joined Arkansas in endorsing Fidelity Month, a movement promoted by conservative scholar Robert George. The initiative urges Americans to rededicate themselves to principles of God, marriage, family, country and community.

Cox’s announcement comes amid differing June declarations — and after his shift on whether to recognize Pride Month.

This year, Tennessee, Alabama and Indiana proclaimed June as “Nuclear Family Month,” underscoring the role of traditional families. Oklahoma declared June “Life Month,” committing to support unborn humans from conception.

Democratic states continued to recognize June as “LGBTQ Pride Month,” accompanied by parades and rainbow decorations. President Bill Clinton made the occasion official in 1999, before Barack Obama expanded it in 2009.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, announced for the second year that June will be known as “Title IX Month,” referring to the 1972 civil rights law banning discrimination in publicly funded schools on the basis of biological sex.

The contest over the month of June reflects decadeslong culture war questions, exacerbated by partisan polarization and a sense that red and blue states increasingly represent different values ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

What is Fidelity Month?

As governor of the Beehive State, Cox has changed his Pride Month messaging considerably since entering office. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Cox made Utah one of the only GOP-leaning states to officially recognize “LGBTQ+ Pride Month.”

But in 2024, ahead of a competitive primary election in June, Cox stated his past declarations had “turned into a lightning rod for more division and hurt.” The governor, instead, declared June “a month of bridge building.”

Last year, Cox did not issue a declaration at all. He posted that he was taking the month of June to reflect “on the values that bring us together.” He once again encouraged Utahns to “keep building bridges of understanding.”

In his latest change, Cox has chosen to highlight Fidelity Month for 2026 with a declaration referring to recent polls showing a dramatic drop among Americans in patriotism, religiosity, childbearing and community involvement.

Cox’s declaration defines fidelity as “dedication to faith, family and country.” Founding fathers like John Adams believed the U.S. Constitution was made for a “moral and religious people” committed to these values, Cox said.

“(T)he survival of the United States depends on the shared bonds of faith, family and patriotism,” the declaration states. “(I)t is fitting to observe one month each year to rededicate the United States to its core values.”

Is Pride Month inclusive or divisive?

Marina Lowe, the senior director of legal and legislative affairs at the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Utah, said she takes issue with the implication that Pride Month stands in contrast to values such as faith, family and marriage.

“I think it’s just the reality that LGBTQ people are people of faith, are people of family, just like any other group of individuals,” Lowe said. “I don’t think that these positions need to be in conflict with one another.”

Pride Month is about “love, acceptance and inclusion,” Lowe told the Deseret News, adding that she believes strong families are defined by “stability and love and commitment,” not by a concept of traditional “nuclear” family structures.

However, other Utahns, like Skyler Sorensen, are glad to see pro-family messages coming from state leaders.

Sorensen is a content creator who focuses on the importance of traditional family values as a Latter-day Saint with same-sex attraction. He said Pride Month represents “a very specific goal” of removing “sexual norms” in public.

“These aren’t just aberrations to the movement; they are very much central to the movement,” Sorensen said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for our government to adopt that and push it out as if it’s something that’s politically neutral.”

June declarations don’t have to become a tit-for-tat that “feeds into political divisiveness,” he told the Deseret News.

Instead of fighting over the month before America’s 250th birthday, Sorensen said leaders can follow the Founders by respecting the right of conscience, while remembering the values of God, family and country that hold us all together.

Editor’s note: This story had been updated to reflect a temporary change in the timing of Utah’s declaration, but it has since reverted to its original form.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Several Utah agencies are speaking out to clarify their lack of involvement in the situation involving American Fork Police Department and their arrest of a YouTube creator, after they have been receiving hundreds of calls about it.

American Fork Police Department (AFPD) is under fire after a YouTuber named Ben Schneider (who goes by the screen name Reckless Ben) posted a video accusing AFPD of misconduct and corruption. Schneider was arrested by AFPD for stalking in March over his involvement in an Oregon case involving purportedly stolen Lego collection.

The video garnered massive public attention and outcry against AFPD, prompting them to release information and footage related to the case in the name of transparency.

BACKGROUND: Conflict over purportedly stolen Legos leads to accusations of misconduct against American Fork Police Department

Now, Central Utah 911 and Salem Police Department have posted to social media to clarify that they are not involved in this matter, stating that they have received significant attention and high volumes of calls.

According to Central Utah 911, just on Saturday between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., dispatch’s call volume jumped from 157 calls (their norm) to 424 calls. Reportedly, just during the busiest hour, they received 143 calls, and 138 of those were non-emergency calls. That’s a 170% increase when compared to a typical Saturday morning.

Central Utah 911 said that the same dispatchers answer non-emergency calls as 911 calls, and they were facing three times their normal workload. It would appear that the majority of calls were about the American Fork situation. They stated that they are not involved in the investigation and they cannot provide updates on the situation.

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“Imagine needing to report a house fire, a serious crash, a heart attack, or a crime in progress and being placed on hold because every available line is tied up by calls seeking information that dispatch cannot provide,” they wrote. “We understand people are passionate about this situation. We simply ask that those conversations be directed to the agency involved so our dispatchers can remain available for the emergencies that truly cannot wait.”

Additionally, Central Utah 911 reported that their dispatchers were yelled at, cursed at, threatened, and harassed over the issue. “We would also ask people to remember there are real people answering these phones.”

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Salem Police Department’s jurisdiction neighbors AFPD’s, and it appears that many people have confused Salem, Utah with Salem, Oregon–where the case of the allegedly stolen Lego collection originated. In the post, the police department clarified that difference.

“Because our department has received numerous inquiries, we want to officially clarify that the Salem UTAH police department has zero involvement in this matter,” Salem Police wrote. “The recent law enforcement actions seen in the videos occurred in a neighboring jurisdiction and were NOT handled by the Salem Police Department.”

Salem Police asked the public to direct any questions or comments about the situation to the appropriate agency. “Thank you for helping us keep our lines clear for local emergencies!” they wrote.

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SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Monday, Utah! Our Monday afternoon will feature mostly sunny skies and warming conditions.

Today and tomorrow: Sunshine and seasonal temps

Daytime highs will climb into the upper 70s to lower 80s across northern Utah. Southern Utah will see plenty of 80s, with mid 90s likely for SW Utah.

Tuesday will feature mostly sunny skies and warmer temperatures. Daytime highs warm into the low to mid 80s across northern Utah with temperatures warming into the mid to upper 90s for SW Utah.

Looking ahead: Above average and dry

A ridge of high pressure settles to our south on Wednesday, bringing the return of breezy conditions. SW winds will become sustained at around 15-25 mph, but gusts will likely exceed 30 mph at times.

The gusty winds will combine with the dry vegetation, low humidity levels, and hot temperatures to create elevated to critical fire danger across the state. Most outside burning should be avoided by mid to late week.

Get the latest Salt Lake City weather forecasts. View live doppler radar, & closings from the ABC4 Utah weather team.

The sunshine will stick around Wednesday, leading to daytime high temperatures climbing into the upper 80s across northern Utah. Highs will warm into the upper 90s to near 100° in SW Utah.

Weekend outlook: No precipitation

The hot and dry trend will continue through the end of the week with mostly sunny skies. Daytime highs will warm near 90° across northern Utah. High temperatures will warm into the near 100° across SW Utah.

View Utah Weather Radar in real time: CLICK HERE

A trough may try to approach Utah this upcoming weekend. Right now, this system looks to it is moving through on the dry side with very little moisture return. The system could bring a cooling trend to our temperatures by Sunday into early next week.

Stay with us for the latest updates from our 4Warn Weather forecast team on News4Utah+ and on abc4.com/utah-weather. We are Good4Utah!

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

As Utah’s primary elections approach, U.S. Rep. Blake Moore and state Rep. Karianne Lisonbee faced each other for a debate in Salt Lake City on Monday evening. Both are running for the state’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the northwestern section of the state.

Moore is the fifth-highest ranking House Republican and currently serves on several committees, including the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which is the primary force behind federal tax policy.

At several points during the debate, televised on PBS, Lisonbee took shots at Moore for his involvement in the state’s redistricting saga. Between 2017 and 2018, Moore served as a Republican chair for Better Boundaries, which later led to the creation of one left-leaning district.

Do you support the Box Elder County data center?

Lisonbee said she was “not supportive at this point” of the recently approved data center in Box Elder County. There are “too many unanswered questions,” she said, referencing conflicting environmental reports about what the data center would do to the area.

Moore offered support for the project but added, “water is paramount. We need to make sure we’re protecting that resource.” He said there may be better options of building data centers in a “more bit-sized approach,” but his main priority is to ensure that “key stakeholders are talking to each other.”

On Monday, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams asked the project developer Kevin O’Leary to scale down the land required from 40,000 acres to 10,000 acres.

When asked if he believes U.S.-based data centers are necessary for national security, Moore said, “We cannot lose this race to China, because we will deal with it (artificial intelligence) responsibly.“

Lisonbee didn’t say whether building data centers was necessary for national security.

They both addressed the public’s hesitancy to embrace the project. Polling by the Deseret News and the Hinkley Institute of Politics showed more than half of Utahns are opposed to the data center.

“Obviously there was a dearth of information going out to the public,” Moore said. “I’m all about having a positive outlook on things, so this is a good opportunity to say, hey, there are problems within this process, and the public has had a chance to weigh in and weigh in heavily.”

When asked if she would support state and federal subsidies for data centers, Lisonbee said, “I firmly believe government should not be in the position of choosing winners and losers in the market. We should get out of the way and let the market work.”

What would you do to protect the Great Salt Lake?

The federal Interior Department recently proposed that $1 billion of its $15.9 billion budget for 2027 go toward increasing the Great Salt Lake’s water levels.

When asked what she would do to make sure that money ended up being used correctly, Lisonbee said, “I have some questions around where does the billion dollars come from? Is that more deficit spending that is going to drive up prices for everyday Utahns for the things that they need?”

Lisonbee added, “It’s going to take collaboration at the local, state and federal level to really solve our water issues here in the state.”

Responding to the same question, Moore said the money could go toward reducing the amount of phragmites, an invasive grass, that grows along the lake’s bank. He also referenced legislation he’d passed about saline lakes during his first term in office in 2021.

Does Moore stand by Prop 4 redistricting?

Moore said he did not agree with Utah Supreme Court Judge Dianna Gibson’s handling of the Proposition 4 redistricting case.

“If she ultimately deemed the legislation to be a statutory (problem), she should have given that back to the state legislature over and over again,” he said.

Lisonbee responded, “I truly can’t tell whether he’s naive or gaslighting the public. Truly, to suggest that because Blake gifted a seat to the Democrats in Utah, that Gavin Newsom will now magically decide to give a seat to the Republicans in California — it’s just not good policy.”

When given time to reply, Moore said, “When I was involved with this, I had no idea how anything was going to play out. But what’s important to remember is back in 2018, most of the states in the U.S. actually were moving to some type of redistricting reform.”

During a recent editorial board meeting with the Deseret News, Moore said he still views his initial efforts with Better Boundaries as the right thing. “It’s tough to do principled things in this job, but they’re still worth doing,” he said.

He described the gerrymandering battles across the U.S. as a “race to the bottom” and added, “I want to be a part of it not existing.”

National debt and government shutdowns

When asked what they would do to address the country’s $38 trillion debt, Moore referenced his Comprehensive Congressional Budget Act, which would make Congress vote on the entire budget every year, and the Fiscal Commission Act.

Lisonbee said she would cut out-of-control federal programs. Then she referenced fraud in Minnesota and California and said, “This is all under the leadership of our current congressman. … Congress controls the purse strings, but they don’t have a very firm grasp, and they need to start pulling.”

Moore responded, “I clearly don’t have any responsibility for what took place in Minneapolis,” then referenced his work on the Health Care Task Force, aimed at rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

Both Lisonbee and Moore promised to not take pay during government shutdowns.

Do Lisonbee and Moore support the war in Iran?

Lisonbee appeared to support the U.S.-Israeli-led strikes on Iran and the continued American presence in the Strait of Hormuz.

“I’m incredibly grateful for our armed forces, and I hate sending them to war,“ she said. ”But we must also put America first. I appreciate a president who is decisive, strategic and goes into conflict with a clear plan and strategy by destabilizing Iran’s power.“

She said she believes the operation has strengthened the U.S. energy market to China’s detriment, adding, “We also need to be more strategic and surgical in how we advance American interests abroad.”

Moore said, “I believe we’re in a strong position for President Trump to make a final deal. I don’t know if the deal is going to solve all the problems, but we can continue to monitor.”

Utah’s primary election is June 23.

June 1, 2026, 11:41 a.m. ET

June 1, 2026, 5:10 a.m. ET