The State Department has rejected at least four U.S. embassies’ requests to fly the rainbow pride flag on their official flagpoles during the month of June, NBC News reported.
Three U.S. diplomats told NBC that embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil and Latvia were denied requests to fly the flag. The rainbow pride flag can reportedly be hung in other spaces around the embassy, but not on the pole alongside the American flag.
The denials are reportedly coming from State Department’s undersecretary for management’s office, according to NBC.
The Trump administration has made significant moves to dismantle LGBT rights since he took office, most notably when Trump announced via Twitter his ban on transgender people serving in the military.
The move contrasts not only with President Trump’s recently announced effort to decriminalize homosexuality across the globe, but also with the purported values his campaign is raising money off of. The official Trump merchandise store has rainbow Make American Great Again t-shirts for sale for pride month.
