The community of the US Embassy in Lebanon raises the Progress Pride Flag, which celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and its persistence, June 9, 2023. (Credit: Twitter/@usembassybeirut)
BEIRUT — The US Embassy in Lebanon on Friday raised the Progress Pride Flag, which celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and its persistence, the US Embassy's Twitter account announced.
"The Chargé and Embassy community raised the Progress Flag for #PrideMonth," the Twitter post said.
"As Secretary Blinken said, “Pride reminds us of the principle that all persons are created equal and every individual’s full humanity should be equally respected,"" the post added.
The Chargé and Embassy community raised the Progress flag for #PrideMonth
— U.S. Embassy Beirut (@usembassybeirut) June 9, 2023
As Secretary Blinken said, “Pride reminds us of the principle that all persons are created equal and every individual’s full humanity should be equally respected.” pic.twitter.com/r9ngIaKLsk
The Progress Pride Flag is a reimagined take on the traditional Pride Flag and was designed to bring attention to inclusion and progress within the LGBTQ+ community.
The flag-raising comes during June, a month dedicated to the celebration and commemoration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride.
On May 17, protesters gathered outside the German Embassy in Beirut to oppose the raising of a rainbow flag to commemorate the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT).
“Not only today, but every day, we raise the rainbow flag in front of our buildings in Beirut in solidarity with LGBT+ people in challenging times,” German Ambassador to Lebanon Andeas Kindl said a the time in a tweet, thanking security forces for “protecting the integrity of a diplomatic mission.”
Some social media users criticized the German Embassy’s commemoration of IDAHOT, including a man affiliated with the radical Christian group “Soldiers of God” who appears in a video calling for the removal of the “flag of the devil.”
Last year, during Pride Month, members of the group tore down a billboard of flowers arranged into the rainbow flag.
Following the incident, caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi attempted to ban LGBTQ+ events.
Lebanon technically criminalizes same-sex relations under Article 534 of the Penal Code, though there have been several cases of judges ruling in favor of the LGBTQ+ community in the past.