(UnitedVoice.com) – June is Pride Month across the United States. President Joe Biden acknowledged the month in a display at the White House. That display caused an uproar on social media, and the administration was accused of violating US Flag Code — but did it?
On Saturday, June 10, Biden hosted the largest Pride celebration in White House history. At the event, the president draped an LGBTQ+ flag from the Truman Balcony, with American flags flanking it on either side. The display caused outrage online. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) posted a photo of the display on Twitter, claiming the POTUS violated the Flag Code.
Kaylee McGhee White, the Washington Examiner’s deputy editor, discussed the controversy on “Fox & Friends First.” She also said the president violated the code and claimed that he was sending the message that the LBGTQ+ “ideology runs America [and] it’s the new state religion.”
According to US Flag Code Section 7(e), the American flag should always be at the center and elevated above the other flags when on display. Because the LGBTQ+ flag was displayed in the middle and at the same level, commentators believed there was a violation.
However, the photos shared on social media and the video clip shared on Fox News were all cropped or at an angle that did not show there was another American flag on display that day, as well. It was elevated above all of the others at the highest point. Therefore, the display wasn’t in violation of the flag code. Twitter went on to add a clarification under Senator Marshall’s tweet, acknowledging there was another flag in the photo and linking a photo that showed it.
Forbes also pointed out that section 10 of the code allows the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces to alter, modify, or repeal the rules in the code when “he deems it to be appropriate or desirable.”
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