WASHINGTON— U.S. embassies around the world will not be flying Pride flags this June, thanks to a State Department directive implemented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly after he took office.
Rubio’s order prohibited State Department personnel from “conducting or participating in any public diplomacy outreach or representational activity” celebrating, commemorating, or recognizing theme day holidays or observances that are not official U.S. holidays or the subject of a U.S. Presidential proclamation, according to an internal State Department memo.
A separate State Department “One Flag Policy” also states that only the flag of the United States, a Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag, or the Hostages and Wrongful Detainees flag may be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities worldwide. That memo, first reported by The Washington Free Beacon, specifically notes: “Examples: Posts should not fly or display the Pride or Progress flag at the U.S. Embassy.”
“Per the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or otherwise publicly displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content,” the guidance states.
“No symbol or affiliation marking other than those authorized by U.S. statute, the President, or the Secretary may be displayed, projected, or exhibited at any U.S. facility, both domestic and abroad.”
A Black Lives Matter banner, a United States national flag and a rainbow flag are hung on the facade of the US embassy building in Seoul. (Photo by Simon Shin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“The flag of the United States of America unites all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy,” the Trump State Department guidance adds. “These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present.”
A similar directive was issued during President Donald Trump’s first administration, when Mike Pompeo led the State Department (though some embassies defied the order and still flew the flags). Under President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken encouraged embassies to follow Biden’s lead in supporting “the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons and communities.”
The Biden State Department gave embassies “blanket written authorization…to display the Pride flag on the external-facing flagpole, for the duration of the 2021 Pride season.” Blinken had promised to do this during his confirmation hearings, during which he also promised to name a special LGBTQ envoy. His State Department also provided asylum categories for people who identify as LGBTQ and said they were fleeing persecution.
The U.S. Embassy in Uruguay, for example, raised a Pride Flag in 2023. The embassy’s Ambassador Heide Fulton said at the time that “raising the Pride flag is a celebration of the hard-won accomplishments of LGBTQI+ activists and their allies, and a reaffirmation of our commitment to the work that still needs to be done to promote the protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTQI+ persons across the globe and within our own communities and workplaces.”
The State Department’s former Pride Month webpage is no longer active, and the department does not appear to be running any Pride Month promotions.
The State Department’s stance toward the theme, which celebrates adults and children who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex, is matched by the White House. Last year, the White House did not celebrate Pride Month at all, and the Department of Education instead declared June “Title IX Month,” highlighting the Trump administration’s actions taken to protect female sports and spaces.
Asked by The Daily Wire on Monday if the White House will be observing Pride Month this June, a White House official responded: “We celebrate all Americans every day.”
