The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been shut down for almost two weeks after Congress failed to pass a funding bill before the February 13 deadline. But instead of trying to reach a deal with their Republican colleagues, Senate Democrats have a different priority – granting the LGBTQ rainbow flag the same Congressionally recognized status as MIA/POW flag, military flags, and the stars and stripes itself.
Earlier this month, the National Park Service (NPS) took down the large so-called pride flag flying over the site of Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. Stonewall, which opened as a mafia-run gay bar in the 1960s, is viewed as the birthplace of the gay rights movement. It officially became a National Monument in 2016 under President Obama.
The flag’s removal came after the Department of Interior (DOI) issued guidance that stated that only the U.S. flag, DOI agency flags, and the POW/MIA flags can be flown on land owned and maintained by the NPS. This does not mean that other historically relevant flags cannot be displayed at NPS sites, as proven by the fact that the rainbow flag is still prominently featured on the fencing surrounding Stonewall. Those other flags just cannot fly on the official flagpole.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) reacted to this by calling Stonewall “sacred ground” and that the flag’s removal was an attack on the LGBTQ community. Again, however, the flag is still on the site in other locations.
Schumer’s solution? In the midst of the ongoing DHS shutdown, he announced his plans to push legislation that would elevate the gay pride flag to the same level as the officially recognized flags.
Those flags that are recognized by the U.S. government honor our nation and its fallen heroes. In contrast, the “pride flag” has nothing to do with pride in one’s nation. Instead, it celebrates a wayward and self-indulgent lifestyle that directly contradicts America’s founding values – strong families, Christian ethics, freedom to practice virtue rather than license to choose vice. On the eve of our nation’s 250th birthday, we should celebrate our Christian heritage and the ideals rooted in Scripture that make this the greatest nation on earth. We should not elevate the sin of either individual pride or sexual deviance in any official capacity.
While Schumer is drafting his bill to put the rainbow flag on par with Old Glory, multiple federal agencies are working without pay in the midst of the government shutdown. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which has been helping to clean up the mess wrought by several recent destructive winter storms. It also includes the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), as evidenced by the longer-than-usual airport security lines. Law enforcement operations that protect children and trafficking victims are being affected. The Civilian Coast Guard will not be receiving a paycheck this week, and thousands of other federal employees will miss their first paycheck at the end of the next.
Schumer and the Democrats say that they blocked the previous DHS spending bills because they want to reform Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). Yet the proposals they have offered would make the job of law enforcement officers far more dangerous than it already is, such as unmasking officers and making it easier for protestors to target them. However, those agencies that are the root cause for Democrats reticence to fund DHS are not affected because both ICE and CBP received funding through last year’s reconciliation bill.
The Democrat’s posturing on the DHS bill is an exercise in futility – federal employees are working without pay, critical agencies are not being funded, all while the agencies that Democrats most want to reform are able to continue their work. And instead of searching for a way to end the current Schumer shutdown and negotiating in good faith, Senate Democrats are writing a law to make the LGBTQ flag one of our official national symbols.
This is yet one more proof that Schumer cares more about ideological cultural symbolism than urgent national security.
