A number of U.S. embassies have been prohibited from flying the rainbow-striped flag for June's traditional LGBTQ Pride Month, a pair of senior State Department officials confirmed Friday.
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Embassies are required to gain special permission to fly any flag that’s not the U.S. flag and, usually, the raising of the rainbow-striped flag which was designed in the seventies to represent diversity, was “a routine thing that happens every year” in June and was always approved, CNN reported a source as saying.
However, according to an anonymous source said to CNN that this year, the management office at the Department of State curtly refused requests made by embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil, and Latvia.
Ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, who is both gay and a strong international LGBTQ advocate, said instead that the flag will hang from the side of the building and serve as a backdrop for the various events scheduled for this month.
Grennel said his take is now, "OK, then we'll fly it inside the embassy, we'll fly it from the window, we'll fly it from the balcony, and everywhere else.”
President Donald Trump has publicly derided the LGBTQ community on numerous occasions insisting that trans people are unfit for military enlistment for their “massive” intake of hormonal medication or reminding the world that the “nation’s founding principles of natural law and natural rights” discourage equal rights for LGBTQ men and women.
Still, Trump didn’t miss an opportunity to shout out to the community online, tweeting: “As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month and recognize the outstanding contributions LGBT people have made to our great Nation, let us also stand in solidarity with the many LGBT people who live in dozens of countries worldwide that punish, imprison, or even execute individuals…”
In a statement, Grenell said, "The President's recognition of Pride Month and his tweet encouraging our decriminalization campaign gives me even more pride to once again march in the Berlin Pride parade, hang a huge banner on the side of the Embassy recognizing our pride, host multiple events at the Embassy and the residence, and fly the gay pride flag.”