Johnson Brags Secretive Spending Deal Includes Embassy Pride Flag Ban: Report

The final package of spending legislation that needs to pass before Friday to keep the federal government from shutting down includes a provision banning LGBTQ+ flags from being flown at U.S. embassies, according to Bloomberg News. Citing a person familiar with the matter, the outlet reported Wednesday that House Speaker Mike Johnson had boasted of the provision in recent days as he’s tried to sell the $1 trillion deal to some of his skeptical colleagues. But a Democrat familiar with the text of the package said the ban actually prohibits the flying of any flag other than the U.S. flag. They added that there was no moratorium on embassy officials’ “personal” use of Pride flags. The Biden administration granted embassies a “blanket authorization” to fly LGBTQ+ flags in April 2021, overturning the previous administration’s policy, in which only U.S. flags were permitted on official flagpoles. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has a documented history of making anti-LGBTQ+ statements, once opining that same-sex marriage was a “dark harbinger of chaos.”