The US Marine Corps is facing backlash after a social media post marking the beginning of Pride Month sparked outrage.
June is Pride Month, an entire month dedicated to the celebration of LGBT+ culture, history, and activism. Traditionally, Pride Month has been marked by worldwide parades and lively performances to celebrate gay, lesbian, and trans culture.
It reflects the ongoing fight against discrimination and injustice towards the LGBT+ community.
“Throughout June, the USMC [US marine corp] takes #Pride in recognizing and honoring the contributions of our LGBTQ service members,” the Marines said in a tweet on Wednesday.
“We remain committed to fostering an environment free from discrimination, and defend the values of treating all equally, with dignity and respect.”
The tweet included an image of a combat helmet with six bullets, whose tips were photoshopped into the colors of the rainbow, which is seen as a symbol of LGBT+ social movements.
Social media users hit out at the Marine Corps, and said the rainbow symbol does not justify war crimes.
Attaching a screenshot of the words “hey everyone, it’s pride! You know what that means: forgetting about our war crimes because we have a rainbow logo now”, one user said: “You could’ve just tweeted this instead and it would’ve meant the same thing, you know.”
“Getting killed by a rainbow bullet is so progressive,” tweeted another user.
Users also hit out at the marines for showing off bullets on the heels of the shooting in Texas last week, when 21 people, including nineteen children, were killed at an elementary school in Uvalde.
Some users also called out the Marine Corps for using the Pride rainbow despite the institution’s history of shunting out cadres for their sexual identity.
The post also ticked off some conservatives, who demanded that all marines should be celebrated, not just LGBT+ personnel.
Some former marine personnel, however, lauded the efforts at inclusivity and said that the post signalled a step forward.
“When I joined, don’t ask don’t tell was still law of the land and the military gladly dishonorably discharged anyone who was even hinted at being lgbt, that the military is now 100% open to lgbt and punishes anti-lgbt discrimination is a win in my book,” one user wrote.
The “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” law, which was in effect from February 1994 to September 2011, made it illegal for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US armed forces.
