The Biden administration has agreed to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags from flying at U.S. embassies in order to pass a spending bill that will keep the federal government open through September 30.
Flag bans have been proposed and enacted by conservatives across the country as a way to censor specifically the rainbow Pride flag. The federal measure was stuck into the government spending agreement by Republicans during negotiations and enthusiastically promoted by anti-LGBTQ+ House Speaker Mike Johnson.
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The provision bans all flags other than the U.S. flag outside embassies, but it does not prevent individual workers from displaying them. The measure aimed to crack down on all "political" flags, including the Black Lives Matter or Black American Heritage Flags. There are only exceptions for flags honoring prisoners of war and wrongful detainees.
The rainbow flag has been flown at embassies during Pride month in June, and on days such as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on May 17. It was first displayed by the Obama administration before the Trump administration implemented a ban on the flag, which was later reversed by the Biden administration.
President Joe Biden has endorsed the government funding bill House Resolution 2882, with his office saying in a statement Thursday that it "strongly urges swift passage" of the "critical" bill. He has since denounced the flag ban, as a White House spokesperson told The Advocate that “President Biden believes it was inappropriate to abuse the process that was essential to keep the government open by including this policy targeting LGBTQI+ Americans."
"While it will have no impact on the ability of members of the LGBTQI+ community to serve openly in our embassies or to celebrate Pride, the Administration fought against the inclusion of this policy and we will continue to work with members of Congress to find an opportunity to repeal it," they said. "We were successful in defeating 50+ other policy riders attacking the LGBTQI+ community that Congressional Republicans attempted to insert into the legislation. President Biden is committed to fighting for LGBTQI+ equality at home and abroad.”
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The administration noted that the bill will fund numerous health care initiatives, including reauthorizing the President’s
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. Established by President George W. Bush, PEPFAR is estimated to have saved 25 million lives globally through initiatives that prevent HIV infections.
While the program has only been reauthorized for one year through the bill, the Biden administration said that it "continues to call on the Congress to reauthorize PEPFAR for an additional five years."
If the legislation passes, the prohibition on flags would only last until the end of the funding deal, which would conclude at the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
This article was updated to include statement from the White House.
