The Pentagon will not make an exception to allow US military installations to fly rainbow pride flags in June, it said on Friday, keeping a policy set by Donald Trump that limited the type of flags that could be flown on bases. In July 2020, Trump’s Pentagon issued a policy authorizing only certain flags on military installations and was seen as a way for then-defense secretary Mark Esper to issue a de facto ban on displaying the Confederate flag without it being mentioned specifically. “There won’t be an exception made this month for the pride flag,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. “We are proud of them.”A 2015 RAND study found that 5.8 % of service members identified as either lesbian, gay or bisexual. Biden also reversed a ban on transgender people openly enlisting and serving in the military.

Source: The Guardian June 05, 2021 02:03 UTC