Culture

Republicans Are Trying to Ban Pride Flags at U.S. Embassies Again


 

On the first day of Pride month, Republicans pushed to force embassies to return to the Trump-era ban on LGBTQ+ Pride flags. Three GOP lawmakers reportedly signed on to a Congressional bill that would prohibit U.S. embassies around the world from flying the rainbow banners or Black Lives Matter flags.

Also known as the “Old Glory Act,” HR 85 would require “that no United States diplomatic or consular post flies any flag” aside from the Stars and Stripes on its pole. The bill was reintroduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) this year after failing to pass in 2018 and 2019 and currently has 20 co-sponsors. And on Tuesday, House conservatives Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), and Brian Mast (R-Fla.) quietly joined those colleagues.

While those lawmakers have yet to comment publicly regarding their decision to sign onto the effort, Duncan’s office told Forbes that HR 85 was introduced in response to an embassy in South America flying a Pride flag. He also cited U.S. consular offices flying “Black Lives Matter” flags as reason for its introduction.

In a statement, the House lawmaker added that “no other flag or symbol can portray our American values” better than the American flag.

HR 85 is supported by senators and representatives like QAnon supporter Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who bashed “rogue” members of the State Department in a February statement for allowing “the flag of the radical Marxist group, Black Lives Matter” to be flown. “This isn’t a political issue,” she said in the press release. “This is about Patriotism, and we need more of it.”

Another supporter of the bill, original co-sponsor Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), called the flag a “preeminent symbol of American exceptionalism.” He told Forbes that it “should never be used as a prop to promote any agenda or political ideology.”

The battle over Pride flags at embassies follows the Biden administration’s decision to reverse a Trump-era prohibition on LGBTQ+ banners at U.S. diplomatic posts. In April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken authorized U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to fly the Pride flag on the same pole as the American flag. The authorization, which is not mandatory, covered International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT) on May 17, as well as all of Pride season throughout June.

In addition to the Pride flag, the memo covers “other symbols connoting support for LGBTQ rights.” It is unclear whether this includes the Black Lives Matter flags mentioned in HR 85.

LGBTQ+ Pride banners have been flown by U.S. foreign offices since at least 2014, when the Obama administration authorized embassies to fly the Pride flag for the month of June. In 2019, the Trump White House broke with that precedent by rejecting requests from several embassies, including Germany, Brazil, and Latvia, to fly Pride flags in 2019, and the following year, the Pentagon rolled out a policy banning rainbow banners and Confederate flags from military bases.

Namibian Pride parade in Windhoek

In attempting to go back to the way things were under Trump, the GOP is unlikely to find much success. The House’s slim Democratic majority means that the bill probably will not even make it to the Senate, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats

Such a bill is almost certainly to also be vetoed by Joe Biden, who issued a presidential proclamation on Tuesday honoring June as LGBTQ+ Pride month. In the proclamation, the POTUS spoke of the community’s “resilience” and “determination” and called attention to 2021’s “tragic spike in violence against transgender women of color,” as well as the current ongoing wave of anti-trans legislation in statehouses.

The statement was a major break with Trump, who acknowledged Pride month just once during the four years of his presidency. In contrast, Biden became the first president to recognize Trans Day of Visibility this year.

Embassies in the Bahamas, Namibia, and the Vatican have already begun flying their rainbow flags for Pride month, according to the U.K. LGBTQ+ news source PinkNews. These shows of support for the community are extremely hopeful signs for communities attempting to fight for visibility and equality: While the Bahamas prohibits same-sex marriage, Namibia is reportedly in the early stages of repealing its colonial-era laws banning gay sex.

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