The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) posted a message for LGBT Pride Month this week, writing that its “theme for #Pride Month is WELCO-ME!” The message by the nation’s spy agency comes during a significant public backlash against LGBT-related messaging by government agencies and large companies.
The CIA wrote out the first letters of the word ‘welcome’ to include a number of messages, including “Equity” and “LGBTQ+.”
CIA Slammed For 'Dystopian' Pride Tweet https://t.co/d34K7TJic4
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) June 9, 2023
The last two letters were represented by the word “ME!”
The agency wrote that “Pride Month is an occasion for all of us at the agency to pay tribute to the rich history, community and mission contributions of our LGBTQ+ officers.”
It ended the post with “#Pride2023.”
The featured image showed the agency’s headquarters with rainbow coloring and the words “CIA” and “PRIDE” overlapped.
The post received considerable criticism, including from Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who wrote that he could not “believe this is real” on Twitter.
He was joined by Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), who wrote that the Biden White House has “an agenda, and protecting the national security of America isn’t at the top of that list.”
Twitter owner Elon Musk commented, “I thought the CIA liked being the closet lol.”
The CIA’s post was not the first by a major American institution related to LGBT Pride this month. The United States Navy removed a banner and post on social media, though it did not express the reason for the removal.
A Twitter post highlighted the change from the Navy, in which the military branch originally posted an image with rainbows and several instances of the word “PRIDE.” However, the banner was quickly replaced with a photo of operations on an aircraft carrier.
When asked about the change, the Navy told Fox News that it had “posted graphics in support of the start of Pride month to honor the service, commitment and sacrifice of the LGBTQ+ Service members and personnel who volunteer to defend our country.”
The Navy received criticism from conservatives for using a drag queen in a recent recruiting effort.
Fox News also reported on documents from last year that showed that the Navy noted a backlash against LGBT pride posting on social media.
