Biden's Secretary of State Orders LGBTQ Flags Flown at U.S. Embassies
Antony Blinken orders Pride flags flown, will name 'Special Envoy for Gay Rights'
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Joe Biden's new Secretary of State Antony Blinken has ordered U.S. embassies around the world to fly gay pride flags.
LGBTQ activists are cheering Blinken’s announcement that he is reversing an order from President Donald Trump and raise rainbow flags at all U.S. embassies.
"The Biden administration is off to a hopeful start, as Secretary of State nominee, Antony Blinken, has confirmed a recommitment to LGBTQ rights," gay news outlet Outfront reported.
"In a memo from July 2020, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper released a list of flags permitted to be displayed at U.S. military bases.
"Missing from the list was the LGBTQ pride flag, which Esper compared to the confederate flag," the magazine added.
"Prior to the ban, embassies raised the flag during pride month on the official embassy flagpole."
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During the hearing, Blinken also confirmed that he plans to appoint a special envoy for LGBTQ rights, according to Breitbart.
The position created by Barack Obama in 2015 but wasn’t filled during the Trump presidency.
Blinken claimed violence against that demographic increased while Trump was in office.
“We’ve seen violence directed against LGBTQI people around the world increase,” Blinken said.
“And so, I think the United States playing the role that it should be playing in standing up for and defending the rights of LGBTQI people is something that the department is going to take on and take on immediately.
"Raising the pride flag is one way to outright show LGBTQ solidarity.”
“Biden is the first U.S. president to openly embrace a full range of queer rights, including transgender equality,” Outfront magazine reported.
The move isn't likely to be welcomed by all host nations, however.
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Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the idea of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow flying a rainbow flag to celebrate LGBTQ rights.
His comments followed a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that included an amendment enshrining the definition of marriage specifically as a union between a man and a woman.
Putin said the U.S. Embassy's move to raise the pride flag "revealed something about the people that work there."
"It's no big deal though," he added.
"We have spoken about this many times, and our position is clear," said Putin, who has sought to distance Russia from liberal Western values and aligned himself with the Russian Orthodox Church.
"Yes, we passed a law banning the propaganda of homosexuality among minors. So what?" the Russian leader said.
"Let people grow up, become adults, and then decide their own destinies."
