Culture

The Pentagon Is Still Banning Pride Flags From Being Flown at Military Bases


 

As the Biden administration works to reverse the former presidency’s attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, at least one vestige of the Trump era will remain intact, at least for now. The Pentagon announced that it will not lift a ban on Pride flags being flown at military bases unveiled last year.

In a Friday press briefing, spokesperson John Kirby said the Pentagon plans to keep intact its “existing policy for the display of unofficial flags” and will “not grant an exception to display the Pride flag.” Per a July 2020 policy unveiled by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, the only flags permitted to be flown at military bases are the American flag, flags from individual U.S. states, the POW/MIA banner, and flags from allied countries.

Kirby told reporters that the decision regarding Pride flags in no way denotes a “lack of respect” for LGBTQ+ people. “This in no way reflects any lack of respect or admiration for people of the LGBTQ+ community, personnel in and out of uniform who serve in this department,” he said, in comments reported by NPR. “We’re proud of them.”

The spokesperson added that the move is about avoiding “potential challenges” to the flag policy if the Pentagon were to allow exceptions to the rule.

 A Black Lives Matter banner, a United States national flag and a rainbow flag are hung on the facade of the US embassy building in Seoul, South Korea

What Kirby is likely referring to here is what Trump’s Pentagon had claimed was the stated aim of the ban: to crack down on the use of Confederate flags at military bases. A memo issued by Esper last year claimed that the banners displayed by members of the armed forces must reject “divisive symbols.” In comments to the publication Military Times, the Defense Secretary specifically named the flag of the violent alt-right group Proud Boys as a prohibited display.

“So I don’t want the military politicized any which way,” he said, also appearing to take a swipe at Black Lives Matter flags. “Take any of your groups on the left, I don’t want their flags.”

But what Esper ignored in his remarks is that the Trump administration had a long history of preventing the Pride flag from being flown alongside the American flag. In 2019, former Vice President Mike Pence confirmed reports that the White House had banned U.S. Embassies from raising the iconic rainbow banner, calling it the “right decision.”

“I’m aware that the State Department indicated that on the flagpole of our American embassies that one flag should fly, and that’s the American flag, and I support that,” he told NBC News at the time.

The decision to preserve the Trump-era policies on Pride banners at military bases was viewed as something of a surprise after Biden’s Secretary of Defense, Antony Blinken, announced in April that embassies would be permitted to hoist Pride flags again. The decision applied to the International Day of Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOT) in May and June Pride month, and individual embassies reportedly were not required to participate.

Many embassies have already begun raising their rainbow flags to celebrate Pride month over the past week. Al-Jazeera reports that diplomatic outposts in Australia, India, and even the Vatican have shown support for the LGBTQ+ community.

Another complication in continuing the Pentagon’s injunction on Pride banners is the policies of its boss: President Joe Biden. When the POTUS took office, he issued an order on his first day committing the government to investigate claims of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in areas like education and housing and later signed a memo pledging to further equality in all foreign policy decisions. Biden also issued his first presidential proclamation commemorating Pride month last week.



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