U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman voted to support a provision in the $1.2 trillion government funding bill passed over the weekend that essentially stops LGBTQ pride flags from being displayed at U.S. embassies.
The provision proposed by congressional Republicans does not explicitly ban pride flags from being flown at embassies, but limits money to the display of specific flags.
The more than 1,000-page package states that "none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State" other than the American flag, foreign service flags, POW/MIA flags, U.S. state and D.C. flags, Indian tribal flags and those of U.S. government agencies.
“An embassy is a country's highest level of diplomatic representation,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily. “A pride flag is not our nation's flag, which was meaningfully designed with 50 stars to represent each state and 13 stripes to represent our original colonies.
“A pride flag also doesn’t represent a branch of our military or those that are prisoners of war or missing in action.”
Change In Policy
The passage marks a reversal from the State Department's explicit authorization in 2021 for U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world to fly pride flags.
Under former President Donald Trump’s administration, diplomatic facilities were prevented from flying the U.S. flag and Pride flag on the same pole during the month of June, which is recognized as Pride Month. American embassies were still permitted to have rainbow flags on the premises.
Even though President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan compromise bill Saturday with the provision intact, averting a partial government shutdown, the White House still slammed it.
"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," a White House spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
The White House has vowed to work congress members to repeal the provision, which it said will not prevent LGBTQ people from working at embassies. The spokesperson also told ABC News that the White House was "successful in defeating 50+ other policy riders attacking the LGBTQI+ community."
Virtue Signaling
Hageman said Biden is out of touch with Americans.
“If Joe Biden wants to virtue signal, the virtue should be the values and pride Americans love and honor in our United States flag,” she said. “Our government and military responsibilities and functions are clearly defined in our founding documents, and pandering to extreme ideologies is not listed.”
Attempts to ban LGBTQ pride flags in government buildings and schools have also hit at state and local levels, including in Florida.
No such bans have taken place in Wyoming, where different variations of the state flag have been created with pride colors integrated in.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
