Deeply disappointing

Trump’s failure to issue Pride Month proclamation called ‘deeply disappointing’

By JACQUELINE KLIMAS

President Donald Trump has yet to issue a proclamation for Pride Month, breaking a recent tradition that Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender advocacy groups call “deeply disappointing” but not entirely surprising.

June is historically recognized as LGBT Pride Month. Former President Barack Obama issued a federal proclamation every year dating back to 2011, according to White House archives.

But, as of June 2, the president has yet to sign an official proclamation for Pride Month, forcing federal agencies to hold back their own materials. The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at the Pentagon, for example, last posted materials and posters for Pride Month in a May 20, 2016, news release. But there are no updated materials for 2017.

The office regularly puts out observance notices with documentation and posters to help military commands mark a range of issues. So far this year, the Pentagon office has released materials for Black History Month, Women’s History Month and Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

A spokesman for the institute said that the delay is due to the lack of a White House proclamation, according to an email obtained by POLITICO.

“The LGBT Pride Month Proclamation for 2017 has not been signed. Nothing prohibits an organization from using past themes/products,” the spokesman wrote.

The Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, the Pentagon and the White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

Despite the lack of an official announcement, military installations around the world are hosting events in honor of Pride Month, according to a list compiled by the American Military Partner Association. The Pentagon will hold its pride celebration on June 12.

The Navy put out a service-specific message on Wednesday announcing the start of Pride Month and the Air Force has issued its own poster, according to Matt Thorn, the executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an advocacy group for LGBT troops and veterans.

The Defense Department began celebrating Pride Month in 2012, according to the Navy release.

Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of the American Military Partner Association, said that the lack of official government-wide recognition should only make the LGBT community “determined more than ever to celebrate our pride in service to our country.

“We are deeply disappointed to see that President Trump has not followed the tradition of issuing an LGBT Pride Month Proclamation for 2017,” she said. “After decades of discrimination, today, LGBT service members proudly serve our nation openly – many with spouses and families proudly standing by their side.”

Seniors leaders at the Pentagon are also reportedly looking at rolling back Obama’s initiative to integrate transgender troops and have indefinitely stalled the proposal, Military Times reported.