Thirty-four House Democrats want Defense Secretary Mark Esper to permit service members to fly the LGBTQ Pride and Native Nation flags.
The lawmakers made their demand in a letter to Esper that was released on Friday, The Hill reported.
The letter was organized by Reps. Anthony Brown of Maryland, Jackie Speier of California and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire.
It was sent after Esper had issued a broad flag policy intended to target the Confederate flag.
That policy was described by officials as a creative way to bar the flag's display without openly contradicting or angering President Donald Trump, who has defended people’s right to display it.
The policy lists the types of flags that may be displayed at military installations. The Confederate flag is not among them.
“We ask that you immediately revise the new policy on flag display, explicitly ban the Confederate battle flag, and ensure that service members can express support for diversity and inclusion through the display of sovereign Native Nations and LGBTQ Pride flags,” the Democrats wrote in their letter.
“While we applaud the department for taking steps to remove the Confederate battle flag from our military bases, the action unnecessarily avoids a clear rebuke of this oppressive symbol while simultaneously limiting how service members can freely express themselves in line with our values.”
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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