The State Department Flies the Progress Pride Flag

On June 25, 2021, the State Department officially raised a Pride flag over its headquarters for the first time in history. The Pride flag was the new, but not the latest, rendition of the Pride flag: the Progress Pride Flag. The Department acknowledged its significance and recognized it as a symbol of the intersectionality of LGBTQ people all over the world.

The State Department has reversed the policies put into place by the Trump administration and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by permitting embassies around the world to raise and fly Pride flags once again.

However, the policy put into place by the Trump administration that banned any Pride flag to be flown on military property is still in effect.

In the month of June, the Progress Pride flag has flown on government property a total of three times: once over the State Department, another over the headquarters of the Department of Energy, and also over the Department of Interior.

The Department of State employees that were on hand and assisted in raising the Pride flag underneath a larger American flag were Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and Jeff Anderson, president of the affinity group for LGBTQ State Department employees. Yet, despite this momentous occasion, Sherman remarks that there are still steps to be taken to ensure the rights and acceptance of LGBTQ people everywhere, including in schools, workplaces, the government, at the Department of State, and in society as a whole.

The Pride flag that was chosen is a relatively new, but widely popular, version of the Pride flag. It includes the traditional six rainbow stripes, while adding black, brown, blue, and pink stripes around a white triangle to create a chevron. This flag is meant to include the transgender community, queer people of color, and also honor AIDS victims in addition to the original Pride flag.