Franklin Graham praises Trump’s order prohibiting Pride flags from being flown at US embassies

U.S. embassies around the world have requested permission from the State Department to fly the LGBT Pride flag on their flagpoles for Pride month, only to be denied by the Trump administration, NBC News reported this Friday. While many saw the move as just another example of the Trump administration’s hostility towards the LGBT community, Trump’s evangelical supporters took an opportunity to praise the order as a testament to the President’s willingness to uphold Christian values.

In a post to his Facebook page this Saturday, evangelist and evangelical leader Franklin Graham thanked Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for “making the decision not to fly the gay flag over our embassies during June in recognition of gay pride month.”

It was the “right decision,” Graham declared.

“The only flag that should fly over our embassies is the flag of the United States of America,” Graham continued. “The gay pride flag is offensive to Christians and millions of people of other faiths, not only in this country but around the world. The U.S. flag represents our nation—everyone—regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation.”

The Trump administration’s directive didn’t exactly achieve its desired result. According to various reports, some US embassies are still flying the flag despite the advisory from D.C.

From The Washington Post:

The facades of the U.S. missions in Seoul and Chennai, India, are partially hidden behind large rainbow flags, while the embassy in New Delhi is aglow in rainbow colored lights. The website for the embassy in Santiago, Chile, shows a video of the chief diplomat raising a rainbow flag last month for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia.

The Vienna embassy’s website features a photo of a rainbow flag flying below Old Glory on a mast jutting from the building, a statement by Diplomats for Equality and a story about a professor lecturing on the visibility and growth of LGBT rights.

The Obama years saw the exact opposite of the Trump administration’s directive. The Obama administration gave blanket permission to embassies to fly the Pride flag during June, which is recognized as LGBT Pride Month. While flying the flag on official embassy flagpoles needs to be approved, NBC News reports that no approvals have yet been issued from the Trump administration.

Featured image via screen grab/Fox News Insider

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.