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    Salt Lake City and Boise Adopt Official Pride Flags in Response to State Laws

    The cities approved several new flags after Utah and Idaho passed laws barring unofficial flags from being displayed on government property.The capitals of Utah and Idaho adopted new official city flags on Tuesday in response to state laws barring the display of any nonofficial flags at schools and government buildings.The state measures were seen by civil rights groups as efforts to prevent the display of flags supporting L.G.B.T.Q. people. The City Council in Salt Lake City approved three new flags: one with the rainbow colors of the Pride flag, a second with the pink and blue of the transgender Pride flag and a third with a symbol and date referring to the Juneteenth holiday that commemorates the end of slavery. Each flag also includes the sego lily, a city symbol.New city flags were adopted by Salt Lake City in response to a recent state law.Salt Lake City Mayor’s OfficeIn Boise, the City Council designated the rainbow Pride flag and a flag promoting organ donation as official city flags.“The City of Boise will continue to fly the flags on City Hall Plaza that represent our community and speak to our values of caring for people and welcoming all,” Lauren McLean, Boise’s mayor, said in a statement before the resolution was adopted.The Utah legislature passed a law in March banning the display of flags that are not explicitly approved at public schools and government buildings. (Flags allowed under the state law include the American flag, the state flag, city flags, flags of other countries or states, and college and military flags.)Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican, allowed the measure to become law without his signature, saying that he was concerned it was too sweeping but that he recognized a veto would be overridden. The law did not explicitly mention L.G.B.T.Q. or Pride flags, but sponsors of the bill indicated that barring such flags was a major part of their motivation.Earlier this year, Idaho also banned displaying unofficial flags at government buildings.Mayor Erin Mendenhall of Salt Lake City, a Democrat, said in a statement that the new flags promoted unity. “I want all Salt Lakers to look up at these flags and be reminded that we value diversity, equity and inclusion,” she said, “leaving no doubt that we are united as a city and people, moving forward together.”In response to Salt Lake City’s action on Tuesday, the Utah House speaker, Mike Schultz, a Republican, said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune: “Salt Lake City’s move to bypass state law is a clear waste of time and taxpayer resources.”He added: “Salt Lake City should focus on real issues, not political theatrics.”A state senator, Daniel McCay, mocked the city’s action by posting photos on social media of flags that, along with Salt Lake City’s sego lily, displayed a symbol of the Mormon Church, the design of the flag of Israel and President Trump’s “MAGA” slogan.A similar state bill in Florida that would have barred flags expressing a “political viewpoint” failed to advance at the recently concluded legislative session. More

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    Utah Bans Most Flags, Including Pride, at Schools and Government Buildings

    The new law is among the most restrictive governing displays of flags, and is part of a polarizing debate focused on the Pride flag and other expressions of L.G.B.T.Q. support.The Utah State Legislature approved a measure that bans the display of all but approved flags in schools and government buildings, a divisive move that civil rights groups have said will undermine free expression for L.G.B.T.Q. people and their supporters.The measure, which became law on Thursday, allows only flags explicitly exempt from the ban — including the United States flag, the Utah state flag and military flags — to be displayed. Other flags, such as the Pride flag and those supporting political causes, will be barred from being flown at government buildings.The new law is one of the most restrictive passed by a state to govern the display of flags, in what has become a polarizing debate largely focused on the Pride flag and other expressions of L.G.B.T.Q. support.Other states, such as Idaho, have passed restrictions on the display of flags in schools, while lawmakers in Florida are considering similar proposals. Supporters of the measure have framed it as a way to make schools and government buildings less political.“Tax payer funded entities shouldn’t be promoting political agendas,” Trevor Lee, a Republican lawmaker who sponsored the bill, said on social media on Friday. “This is a massive win for Utah.”In a letter on Thursday, Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said he had “serious concerns” about the bill. He said he had allowed it to become law without his signature because his veto would have been overridden.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    A Super Bowl Halftime Performer Surprised Organizers With a Sudan-Gaza Flag

    There it was, in the corner of the screen during the climactic moment of Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday: A protester unfurling a combined Palestinian and Sudanese flag just as Lamar — and the entire stadium — sang the “it’s probably A-minooooor” punchline from his chart-topping diss track “Not Like Us.”The N.F.L. said in a statement that the protester was part of the 400-member field cast.“The individual hid the item on his possession and unveiled it late in the show,” the league said. “No one involved with the production was aware of the individual’s intent.”A representative for Roc Nation, the entertainment company behind the halftime show, said in a statement, “The act by the individual was neither planned nor part of the production and was never in any rehearsal.”Amid the dozens of dancers in red, white, blue and black, the individual could be seen standing on the hood of the stage’s centerpiece, a Buick Grand National GNX, the rare car for which Lamar named his latest album, “GNX.” Images from the ground and clips on social media showed a person in black sweats — matching the extras onstage — with “Sudan” and “Gaza” written on the white swath of the flags, alongside a heart and a solidarity fist.As Lamar transitioned into his final song, “TV Off,” from “GNX,” the flag-bearer could be seen jumping from the car and leaving the stage, running in circles with the flag waving in his hands until being tackled by security and removed from the field.Emmanuel Morgan More

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    Trump Hawks American Flag Pins with His Name in Gold Splashed Across Them

    Donald J. Trump’s campaign is billing it as a must-have fashion accessory for his supporters: an American flag lapel pin with the former president’s name scrawled in gold block letters across it — in all caps.The pins were available starting Thursday for a $50 donation to the Trump campaign, the latest merchandising gambit from a candidate who has hawked a plethora of products over the decades, most recently Bibles and Trump sneakers.A donation page for the pins declared that Mr. Trump’s political opponents had rendered him a convicted felon and asked supporters if he could count on their support.His latest marketing pitch is further testing the norms of flag etiquette and drawing fresh scrutiny from critics.It’s not only the flag flap surrounding Mr. Trump, whose birthday, June 14, happens to fall on Flag Day. Some election deniers have flown the flag upside-down, a historical symbol of distress, to protest Mr. Trump’s 2020 election defeat. An inverted flag appeared at the home of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., a display that he attributed to his wife.Alterations to the flag are forbidden under the U.S. Flag Code, which was created in the 1920s by a group of patriotic and civic groups that included the American Legion and adopted as law by Congress in 1942.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Justice Alito’s Wife, in Secretly Recorded Conversation, Complains About Pride Flag

    In a conversation with a woman posing as a conservative supporter, Martha-Ann Alito appeared to push back against having to look at a symbol of L.G.B.T.Q. rights.Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s wife, Martha-Ann, recently told a woman posing as a conservative supporter that she wanted to fly a Catholic flag at the couple’s Virginia home in response to a Pride flag in her neighborhood.“You know what I want?” the justice’s wife said to the woman, Lauren Windsor, who secretly recorded the conversation during a black-tie event last week at the Supreme Court. “I want a Sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the Pride flag for the next month.”But Ms. Alito said that after she suggested the Sacred Heart of Jesus flag as a retort to the symbol for L.G.B.T.Q. rights, her husband said, “Oh, please, don’t put up a flag.”She said that she had agreed, for now, but that she had told him that “when you are free of this nonsense,” “I’m putting it up and I’m going to send them a message every day, maybe every week. I’ll be changing the flags.”She added that she would come up with her own flag, which would be white with yellow and orange flames and read, in Italian, “shame.”The comments from Ms. Alito were posted online late Monday by Ms. Windsor, who describes herself as a documentary filmmaker and “advocacy journalist.” Ms. Windsor, who has a reputation for approaching conservatives, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio and Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, posted edited recordings of Ms. Alito, as well as separate edited recordings of Justice Alito and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., on social media.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More