It has been less than a decade since the U.S. Supreme Court mandated the redefinition of marriage across all 50 states in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, transforming legal regimes across America overnight. To celebrate, President Barack Obama lit up the White House with the colors of the LGBT rainbow. It was a triumphal harbinger of things to come.
Since then, the rainbow flag has become perhaps one of the most potent symbols of the LGBT movement’s cultural power. As I’ve noted many times in this space, flags have always been used as a way of signaling a claim or ownership over territory – that is why battles over rainbow flags and transgender flags on civic and government flagpoles rage so fiercely. LGBT activists understand the symbolism of hoisting their banner over our towns and cities, and they firmly believe they have a right to do so.
A recent political skirmish in the U.S. highlights the brazenness of this entitlement. Yesterday, the White House attacked congressional Republicans for a provision in a government funding bill that limits the flags flying over U.S. embassies to the American flag, US Foreign Service flag, POW/MIA flag, Hostage and Wrongful Detainee flag, flag of a state, “insular area,” or DC, Indian tribal government flag, the official branded flag of a US agency, or the sovereign flag of another nation.
A White House spokesperson promptly released an angry statement demanding that this alleged “discrimination” against the LGBT movement be reversed. “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,” the statement said. “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.”
It should be noted here that even the Human Rights Campaign admitted that this provision allowed “pride flags to be present in almost all cases at embassies, except flown *over* the exterior of the building.” That, however, isn’t good enough. The White House wants the “pride” flag flapping from the very pinnacle of every embassy – because the “pride” flag is now a potent symbol of America’s foreign policy. It was deliberately used in Afghanistan to convey America’s ideology to the population; the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See flew the “pride” flag in Rome for the same reasons.
