The Biden administration reportedly requested that the General Services Administration seek to have United States Court Houses fly the gay pride flag on their grounds in honor of June being Pride Month, a move criticized Wednesday by “Fox News Primetime” host Tammy Bruce.
Internal emails obtained by Fox News showed the forwarding of this request to staff within the GSA – the federal agency that provides for and manages the basic support services, real estate and communications for the various parts of the federal government.
Bruce slammed the move, speaking as someone in the LGBT community, and saying that the omnipresence of the gay pride flag this time of year is more divisive than it is uniting.
“My feeling initially about this as a gay woman is, we see in June the gay pride flag is everywhere: I have always been concerned because I love the American flag, that this is a dynamic that reinforces tribalism,” she said.
“It reinforces this notion that well, there is the American flag — but here is who you are. This is your flag; it’s a separate entity within this framework.”
The request comes weeks after the Biden administration asked for the Black Lives Matter banner to be flown or hung at U.S. embassies abroad; which was met with mixed reviews by the public.
In response to the latest demand from the Biden administration, Independent Women’s Law Center director Jennifer Braceras claimed the move was even more egregious than the BLM order – in that it ran against the federal separation of powers.
“This particular request came from the executive branch to the judicial branch,” Braceras said. “I think it’s awfully bold that some bureaucrats at the GSA or political advisers in the Biden administration think they have the power to tell federal judges what flags to display.”
Braceras remarked that judges symbolically wear black robes to demonstrate that they are impartial and unencumbered by partisan or sectarian influences.
“The judiciary is a co-equal branch of government. They do not report to bureaucrats in the executive branch. And they don’t have to put out flags that they don’t want to,” she said.
“Federal judges are supposed to be neutral arbiters of disputes – and federal courthouses shouldn’t be used as billboards to celebrate any particular cause or group or holiday, whether that’s breast cancer awareness month, whether that’s supporting the troops, or Black Lives Matter or the pride flag, or Saint Patrick’s Day.”
On May 25, leaked documents showed Biden’s administration issued guidance to all “Diplomatic and Consular posts” asking for them to fly the BLM flag to commemorate the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.
In Congress, several Republicans including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina and Rick Crawford of Arkansas signed onto the “Only Old Glory Act,” a bill that would prohibit flying the pride flag at U.S. Embassies.
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Duncan, the bill’s sponsor, declared that “no other flag or symbol can portray our American values” than the Star-Spangled Banner.
Last week, when the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Vatican City affixed a pride flag on its exterior, Nebraska Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts called it a “political stunt” and wondered aloud on Twitter whether the White House would similarly hold the Catholic ideals of “family and freedom of conscience” in the same high regard, given the embassy’s location.
The Defense Department, however, will not allow the Pride flag to be flown at installations under its purview, Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby, Ret., said last week.
