Marjorie Taylor Greene among GOP members marking Pride month with bill to ban rainbow flag at embassies
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene leaves the U.S. Capitol.
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Several Republican members of the US House of Representatives marked the start of Pride Month this week by joining an effort to ban the flying of rainbow-coloured flags at US embassies.
A news release from the office of Congressman Jeff Duncan of South Carolina indicated that three additional Republican members had joined the bill as co-sponsors this week, bringing the total number of official supporters in the House to twenty members of the 211-member strong GOP caucus.
The bill was first unveiled in February by Mr Duncan and its original co-sponsors including the fiery gadfly Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, known for her past support of the “#QAnon” conspiracy theories as well as her other far-right views.
The announcement on Tuesday from Mr Duncan’s office coincided with the beginning of Pride Month in the US, during which supporters of LGBT+ rights celebrate members of the community.
“During my campaign for Congress, I promised that I would always put America First. That means that only the Stars and Stripes should fly over our embassies in foreign countries,” Ms Greene said at the time, while criticising some embassy officials for flying a Black Lives Matter flag.
“The federal government should only be flying the flag that represents ALL people, the American flag. We need to bring back pride in our country and raise the Star Spangled Banner proudly. Old Glory represents our great American military and their sacrifices to ensure our freedom. This isn’t a political issue. This is about Patriotism, and we need more of it,” she added at the time.
The bill has virtually no chance of becoming law, as it has only a trifling GOP support and no Democratic co-sponsors in the Democratic-controlled House.
Mr Duncan’s office added in a news release that the bill came in response to “a State Department official putting a rainbow flag up over a South American embassy.”
“Our beautiful flag, Old Glory, is the single greatest symbol of freedom the world has ever known,” said Mr Duncan. “It is an unmatched representation of liberty that is coveted around the globe, and it should be the only symbol that flies over our embassies in nations around the world. I believe no other flag or symbol can portray our American values better than Old Glory.”
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