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Trump administration bars U.S. embassies from flying Pride flags: report

Decision reportedly comes from Pompeo deputy

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Dominican Republic, gay news, Washington Blade
Dominican Republic, gay news, Washington Blade
Deivis Ventura, left, a prominent Dominican LGBT rights advocate, raises the rainbow flag over the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic on June 4, 2016, with then-U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James “Wally” Brewster and his husband, Bob Satawake. (Photo courtesy of Bob Satawake)

Amid Pride celebrations throughout the United States, the Trump administration is ordering U.S. embassies not to display the Pride flag on official flagpoles, according to a report in NBC News.

Diplomats say U.S. embassies in Israel, Germany, Brazil and Latvia are among those denied permission from the State Department to fly the Pride flag, NBC News reported.

The Pride flag reportedly can and is being flown elsewhere on embassy grounds, such as inside embassies and on exterior walls, but not to allow it on the official flagpole.

The denials to U.S. embassies reportedly came from the office of the State Department’s undersecretary for management, Brian Bulatao. A longtime associate of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Bulato worked for him at the CIA.

Neither the White House nor the State Department responded to the Washington Blade’s request to confirm the NBC News report.

The flying of Pride flags at U.S. embassies has become common as a sign of U.S. solidarity with the LGBT community overseas. Embassies had been free to display the Pride flag on their official flagpoles during the Obama administration and the first two years of the Trump administration.

The news report stands in contrast to President Trump recognizing Pride Month in a tweet, making him the first Republican U.S. president to acknowledge June as Pride Month, as well as a global initiative spearheaded by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to decriminalize homosexuality. Grenell is the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Trump administration.

But the reported ban is consistent with a long anti-LGBT record from the Trump administration that since last Pride alone includes implementing the transgender military ban, actions in the name of “religious freedom” seen to enable anti-LGBT discrimination and carves out in Obama-era rules protecting transgender people from discrimination in homeless shelters and health care.

The display of Pride flags at U.S. embassies has been a source of ire for social conservatives. Last year, Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) introduced a bill that would prohibit flying any flag at U.S. embassies other than the U.S. flag. Although the bill doesn’t explicitly indicate Pride flags would be banned, the measure seemed aimed with that goal in mind.

Ty Cobb, director of HRC Global at the Human Rights Campaign, slammed Trump in a statement for recognizing Pride, but refusing to allow Pride flags at U.S. embassies within the course of one week.

“Trump can’t have it both ways,” Cobb said “He can’t tweet claiming to be an advocate for LGBTQ people and turn around and prohibit U.S. embassies across the world from flying a Pride flag. The reality is that the Trump-Pence administration continue to take every opportunity to attack LGBTQ people, from stripping access to health care to eliminating transgender people’s ability to serve.”

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Virginia

Walkinshaw wins Democratic primary in Va. 11th Congressional District

Special election winner will succeed Gerry Connolly

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James Walkinshaw(Photo public domain)

On Saturday, Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw won the Democratic primary for the special election that will determine who will represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.

The special election is being held following the death of the late Congressman Gerry Connolly, who represented the district from 2008 until 2024, when he announced his retirement, and subsequently passed away from cancer in May.

Walkinshaw is not unknown to Virginia’s 11th District — he has served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors since 2020 and had served as Connolly’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2019. Before he passed away, Connolly had endorsed Walkinshaw to take his place, claiming that choosing Walkinshaw to be his chief of staff was “one of the best decisions I ever made.”

The Democratic nominee has run his campaign on mitigating Trump’s “dangerous” agenda of dismantling the federal bureaucracy, which in the district is a major issue as many of the district’s residents are federal employees and contractors.

“I’m honored and humbled to have earned the Democratic nomination for the district I’ve spent my career serving,” Walkinshaw said on X. “This victory was powered by neighbors, volunteers, and supporters who believe in protecting our democracy, defending our freedoms, and delivering for working families.”

In addition to protecting federal workers, Walkinshaw has a long list of progressive priorities — some of which include creating affordable housing, reducing gun violence, expanding immigrant protections, and “advancing equality for all” by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Fair Housing Act.

Various democratic PACs contributed more than $2 million to Walkinshaw’s ad campaigns, much of which touted his connection to Connolly.

Walkinshaw will face Republican Stewart Whitson in the special election in September, where he is the likely favorite to win.

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Maryland

LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline option is going away. Here’s where else to go in Md.

Changes will take effect July 17

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(Bigstock photo by Mihailo K)

By ANNA RUBENSTEIN | The national suicide prevention hotline will no longer offer specialized support to LGBTQ people, starting July 17, the Trump administration announced last week.

Dialing the hotline at 988 will still be available for crisis support. But callers will no longer be able to reach specific LGBTQ services by pressing Option 3. The change worries advocates because their data shows the LGBTQ community has a disproportionally high suicide rate.

Even after the option ends, here’s how to receive tailored support if you’re in Maryland.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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