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10 Photos That Show How Embassies Have Gotten Around The White House Pride Flag Ban

by Madhuri Sathish-Van Atta
Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Although Donald Trump pledged during his 2016 presidential campaign that he would advocate for LGBTQ rights, he has rolled back transgender health care protections and rescinded Obama-era anti-discrimination protections. And now, in the middle of Pride Month, the Trump administration is denied requests from U.S. embassies that want to fly the rainbow flag. However, these photos of embassy pride flags show diplomats finding creative ways to show their support for LGBTQ people around the world.

The State Department has been prohibiting U.S. embassies from flying the rainbow pride flag on their flagpoles. The Trump administration has rejected requests to fly the pride flag from least four embassies — those in Israel, Germany, Brazil, and Latvia, per The Guardian. Vice President Mike Pence described this flag ban as "the right decision," arguing that only "one American flag flies" at U.S. embassies. However, embassies are still allowed to display the pride flag elsewhere on their grounds, NBC News reported, and they are definitely doing so.

In an effort to work around the State Department's pride flag ban, multiple American embassies have displayed the rainbow flag on their facades or fences, the BBC reported, and many ambassadors have expressed their support for Pride Month as well. The following photos show how American embassies and ambassadors are showing their solidarity with LGBTQ people around the world.

Seoul, South Korea

In apparent defiance of the Trump administration's pride flag ban, the American embassy in Seoul displayed a rainbow banner on its facade. Local media outlets reported that the flag was taken down on Sunday, however, after the Seoul Queer Culture Festival came to an end.

New Delhi, India

The State Department may have banned American embassies from flying the flag pride, but they didn't say anything about rainbow lights. In honor of Pride Month, the U.S. embassy in New Delhi lit up its facade with rainbow colors.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

In Ulaanbaatar, the American embassy placed a large pride flag on its outer railing, in order to demonstrate solidarity with LGBTQ people both in Mongolia and the U.S.

Tel Aviv, Israel

At the U.S. embassy branch office in Tel Aviv — which is where Israel's American embassy was located before Trump moved it to Jerusalem — rainbow flags, banners, and streamers appeared in multiple places along the building's facade.

Istanbul, Turkey

The rainbow flag ban applies to both consulates and embassies, so when the American consulate in Istanbul learned that it could no longer fly a pride flag on its flagpole, its employees decided to hang the flag from the roof instead.

Oslo, Norway

In Norway, the American embassy in Oslo got around the pride flag ban by hanging a large rainbow banner along the front of its building.

Chennai, India

At the American consulate in Chennai, Consulate General Robert Burgess raised the pride flag — not on the consulate's flag pole, but on the front of the building. The consulate also posted a video to YouTube in which Burgess presented a message in support of Pride Month.

Santiago, Chile

The American embassy in New Delhi was not the only one that turned to rainbow lights as a creative workaround to the pride flag ban. The U.S. embassy in Santiago also used rainbow lights to celebrate Pride Month.

Vienna, Austria

In Vienna, the U.S. embassy followed Obama-era guidelines by flying the pride flag under the American flag. The flag was raised last month as part of the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, per TIME.

Kathmandu, Nepal

In Kathmandu, Randy Berry — the U.S. ambassador to Nepal — posted a picture of himself and his team celebrating Pride Month, complete with rainbow flags and a balloon arrangement.

Ever since Mike Pompeo became the Secretary of State, U.S. embassies and consulates around the world have been required to submit requests to the State Department in order to fly pride flags, Mashable reported. But this year, even though all of those requests have been denied, American diplomats have found creative ways to show their solidarity with LGBTQ people both in the U.S. and worldwide.