Led by US Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a group of 17 senators is demanding an immediate explanation (by June 28) from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his department’s banning of rainbow flags to fly at US embassies and diplomatic missions—a ban apparently issued as Pride month began this year.
According to a June 14 press release from Senator Markey’s office, the senators “made clear any decision to limit official support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) rights would send the wrong signal to the rest of the world about US commitment to this foreign policy priority. The Senators’ letter also asks Secretary Pompeo to explain the Department’s decision to 1) not issue an official statement this year commemorating Pride month, 2) not issue a normally routine cable outlining activities for embassies to commemorate Pride, and 3) continue to not fill the vacant position of LGBTI special envoy.”
Referring to reports that the State Department denied requests from US embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil, Latvia and around the globe to fly Pride flags during Pride month, the letter states:
If these reports are true, the Trump administration is sending a powerfully negative message to the rest of the world about the US commitment to LGBTI rights. Despite developments in recent years, “anti-LGBTI violence and discrimination remained widespread around the world in 2018,” according to this year’s annual Human Rights Report published by the State Department. …
This community requires our moral leadership and support. But preventing the official flying of rainbow flags and limiting public messages celebrating Pride Month signals to the international community that the United States is abandoning the advancement of LGBTI rights as a foreign policy priority.
Click here read the letter in full.
Other Senators signing the letter include Senators Elizabeth Warren (MA), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Maggie Hassan (NH), Bernie Sanders (VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Sherrod Brown (OH), Kamala Harris (CA), Bob Casey (PA), Jacky Rosen (NV), Tina Smith (MN), Cory Booker (NJ), Jeff Merkley (OR), Amy Klobuchar (MI), Tim Kaine (VA), Richard Blumenthal (CT) and Patty Murray (WA).
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