US diplomats work around White House gay pride flagpole ban
US diplomats have been finding creative ways to show support for LGBTQ+ Pride month after the White House banned them from flying the rainbow flag.
Before this year embassies hoisted the flag on the official embassy flagpole - but this year they had to seek approval from the state department, which reportedly refused all requests. On Tuesday Vice-President Mike Pence said the ban was the "right decision". He said there were no restrictions on pride flags elsewhere on the buildings. The Trump administration has appointed several gay ambassadors and Mr Trump has made a statement celebrating Pride month. What's behind the White House stance? "We're proud to be able to serve every American," Mr Pence told NBC, but "when it comes to the American flagpole, and American embassies, and capitals around the world, one American flag flies." Mr Pence, an evangelical Christian, opposes gay marriage and has a history of supporting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The ban has been backed by prominent evangelical Trump supporter Franklin Graham, who on Sunday tweeted that the gay pride flag was "offensive to Christians and millions of people of other faiths". Earlier this month an unnamed diplomat told the Washington Post there was a "category one insurrection" against the rainbow flag ban. How have US missions shown support for Pride? On Thursday the US Embassy in Jerusalem tweeted a photo of its branch office in Tel Aviv - formerly the embassy before President Trump moved it to Jerusalem - decked out in rainbow colours. It said this was in preparation for Friday's Tel Aviv pride parade. It was among at least four embassies - the others were Germany, Brazil and Latvia - which were denied permission to fly the rainbow flag, the Guardian reported. Despite that, the US missions in the South Korean capital Seoul and the Indian city of Chennai hung large rainbow flags on their facades. The flag in Seoul was taken down on Sunday, local media reported. An embassy spokesperson told Yonhap that the flag had been taken down at the conclusion of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival. However the various efforts made by US missions to show solidarity with LGBTQ+ people has not pleased everyone. Norwegian Christian pastor Jan-Aage Torp tweeted a picture of the US embassy in Oslo, saying that the rainbow flag dwarfed the Stars and Stripes. "Is this ok?" he asked. Some other embassies and ambassadors have also expressed support for LGBTQ+ Pride. The US embassy in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar tweeted a picture of a Pride flag on its railings with the Stars and Stripes flying in the background. Randy Berry, the US ambassador to Nepal, tweeted that he was celebrating Pride month and reaffirmed "the US commitment to defending human rights for all".