The White House said Saturday it would seek to find a way to repeal the ban (Representative)
United States Washington:
The massive funding bill signed by President Joe Biden on Saturday contains a provision banning LGBTQ pride flags from flying over U.S. embassies, but the White House has vowed to work to repeal it.
The ban was one of many side issues included in a massive $1.2 trillion plan to fund the government through September, which passed early Saturday morning shortly after a midnight deadline.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, a conservative Christian who is fighting for votes to pass the bill in the House, “bragged” about the pride flag ban as something his party should support, The Daily Beast reports reason.
The White House said Saturday it would seek a way to repeal a ban on flying the rainbow flag, which celebrates the LGBTQ equality movement.
“Biden believes it is inappropriate to abuse a process that is critical to keeping the government open by including policies targeting LGBTQI+ Americans,” the White House statement said, adding that the president is “committed to fighting for LGBTQI+ equality at home and abroad.” “
The White House said that while it failed to block the flag proposal, it “succeeded in defeating more than 50 other policy riders that congressional Republicans had tried to include in legislation that attacked LGBTQI+ communities.”
The law signed by Biden states that no U.S. funds can be used “for the flying or display of flags at State Department facilities,” other than flags associated with the United States or other governments, or flags supporting prisoners of war. Soldiers on the move, hostages and wrongfully imprisoned Americans.
But the Biden campaign argued that while such flags may not fly “over” the U.S. embassy, that does not mean they are displayed elsewhere on embassy grounds or offices.
“This will not affect the ability of members of the LGBTQI+ community to serve publicly at our embassies or celebrate Pride,” the White House said, referring to the month (usually June) when LGBTQ parades and other events are held.
The Biden administration is a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights. In a dramatic change from the Trump administration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken not only allowed but encouraged U.S. missions to fly the rainbow flag during Pride Month.
Blinken’s predecessor, Mike Pompeo, an evangelical Christian, ordered that only the American flag be flown on the embassy flagpole.
In 2015, former President Barack Obama’s administration lit up the White House in rainbow colors as it celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, much to the delight of liberals but also to the delight of liberals. angered some conservatives.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
