The rainbow Pride flag cannot be flown outside U.S. government buildings, including consulates, without top-level approval.
But no one said anything about draping one over a building, which is exactly what the U.S. consulate general office in Toronto has done.
U.S. President Donald Trump mandated that diplomats must obtain approval from the State Department to fly a rainbow Pride flag.
U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence confirmed to NBC that the Trump administration rejected requests by U.S. embassies, including in Israel, Germany, Brazil and Latvia, to fly the flag on their official flagpoles to mark Pride Month.
But the U.S. consulate in Toronto features a large Pride flag draped down the side of the building for the sixth consecutive year, a fact it proudly showed off on Twitter.
John Manzo is a sociology professor at the University of Calgary. As an immigrant from the U.S., he says he’s happy to see the Pride flag on the building.
“I’m incredibly proud of the U.S. consulate in Toronto for doing this,” he told HuffPost Canada. “We as queer Americans and as queer Canadians need to see that sort of support, especially when we feel like we’ve been abandoned by Trump.”
And people are loving the non-flying, totally compliant move.
Previous policy under Barack Obama’s administration allowed Pride flags to be flown outside of government buildings, as long as they were smaller than the U.S. flag. Permission was done on a local level.
However, Trump’s administration brought in stricter regulations since then.
“As the president said on the night we were elected, we’re proud to be able to serve every American,” Pence told NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Monday. “We both feel that way very passionately, but when it comes to the American flagpole, and American embassies, and capitals around the world, one American flag flies.”
The U.S. consulate in Toronto didn’t respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.