A U.S. Embassy tweet of a rainbow-flag-festooned message by President Joe Biden in support of Pride Month has drawn a face-to-face diplomatic protest from Kuwait and sparked a rare Twitter fight between the two close allies.
On Friday, U.S. diplomats were doubling down with rainbow flag postings and statements in support of LGBTQ rights on social media. The messages appeared in response to the Kuwaiti government’s official objection the day before to what Kuwait’s state news agency called the “pro-gay rights post” of the U.S. Embassy there.
“The United States stands with the LGBTQI+ community everywhere around the world,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a pointed retweet Friday of the embassy’s original offending Pride Month message.
The dispute began after the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait posted a tweet Thursday that called Biden a champion of LGBTQI rights. “All human beings should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear no matter who they are or whom they love,” it said.
