It’s no secret that Russia’s autocratic president, Vladimir Putin, fears rainbows. In Putin’s Russia, displaying a rainbow symbol is illegal expression of “LGBT extremism.” The U.S. Embassy in Moscow, however, raises a rainbow Pride flag in June. And while American administrations — and secretaries of state — change, this affirmation abroad seems not so partisan.

Agence France-Presse reported in 2019 that then-Secretary Mike Pompeo, of the Trump Administration, barred U.S. embassies from flying the Pride flag. Still, even he issued an affirming statement. His 2018 statement reads, in part, “The United States stands firmly with you as you exercise your human rights and fundamental freedoms. We wish you a safe and happy Pride Month.”

While certainly not the degree of affirmation offered by Democratic administrations, it’s evidence that America’s message to the world has come a long way. Mark Bromley, co-chair of the D.C.-based Council for Global Equality, deserves some of the credit.

“When we were founded, in 2008, we had to really jump and scream and try to get the State Department to care about LGBTQ+ issues as human rights concerns,” recalls Bromley. “Today, 16 years later, it really is in the fabric of the State Department. So, when we see a really bad anti-LGBTQ bill or initiative proposed in a country like Uganda, we don’t have to push the embassy to engage — they’re already three steps ahead of us.”

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Indeed, during his July 4 celebration remarks this year, U.S. ambassador to Uganda William W. Popp included the community. While a new law in that country calls for the death penalty in cases of “aggravated homosexuality,” among other penalties for LGBTQ-related so-called crimes, Popp told his audience, “We have also used our voice and programs to ensure that all Ugandans, from every background and from vulnerable populations such as women, youth, people with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQI+ community, have equal access to health and other public services, without discrimination, stigma, or fear.”

Today, says Bromley, the Council for Global Equality is more focused on coordinating with, rather than compelling, U.S. entities abroad. It’s all part of the council’s mission, which actually represents a coalition of dozens of organizations, “to encourage a clearer and stronger American voice on human rights concerns impacting LGBTQI communities around the world.” Those many organizations range from the Center for American Progress to The Trevor Project to the National Center for Transgender Equality.

“We suggest messaging,” Bromley further explains. “We suggest using different tools, whether it’s sanctions policy or trade policy, to encourage the government to do the right thing.”

As for his own career, Bromley has been doing the right thing for decades. Before coming out, Bromley left his hometown of Rochester, N.Y., to earn a foreign service bachelor’s degree at Georgetown University. Next, he earned a law degree from the University of Virginia. His law education included spending substantial time in Haiti working with refugees and assisting with asylum claims.

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The human rights arena, he says, has long been a passion. Accordingly, after school, he began work for a D.C. NGO working to foster rule of law abroad. After roughly a decade immersed in the intersection of human rights law and U.S. foreign policy, he realized there was something missing from the dialogue.

“Nobody here in Washington was really looking at LGBTQI people in terms of U.S. human rights policy discussions,” Bromley says, looking back. “More importantly, no one was really pushing the U.S. government, our embassies, our foreign policy to respond to challenges facing LGBTQ+ persons. That’s when I decided I wanted to figure out a way to more consistently do that, to use the opportunities of U.S. foreign policy, the weight and power of U.S. embassies, our investments overseas, to promote rights for LGBTQ+ persons.”

Considering the council’s focus, a visit to the organization’s website might be mildly confusing. Near the top of the homepage, visitors are invited via highlighted text to read the council’s warning regarding “Project 2025,” also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project.

While the 900-plus page document is jarring in its hostility toward the LGBTQ community, it’s a domestic plan. The right-wing Heritage Foundation, along with several like-minded organizations, has led the Project 2025 blueprint for gutting the federal government and crippling progressive social values.

It is, arguably, so toxic that GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has tried to distance himself from it. The director of the project, Paul Dans, who this week quit The Heritage Foundation for reasons not entirely clear, was the chief of staff of the Office of Personnel Management during the Trump Administration. Next up, as associate director, is Spencer Chretien, “Special Assistant to President Donald J. Trump and Associate Director of Presidential Personnel.” Peel back the layers of this stinking onion, and reveal ever more Trump associates.

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But why so much interest from Bromley and the council? Among those Bromley points to is Sharon Slater, founder of Family Watch International, designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. She’s been a Heritage ally in the past, and an enemy of the LGBTQ community worldwide perpetually.

“They have a shared game plan, a shared playbook, some of which is articulated in Project 2025,” says Bromley of Slater and Heritage. “Sharon Slater has a very clear idea of how she wants to support extremist, anti-LGBTQ legislators and politicians across Africa.”

Bromley adds that aside from its overt anti-LGBTQ plans, the belligerent blueprint could also indirectly make the world are more hostile place for the community.

“Project 2025 sets out a very isolationist path that would abdicate U.S. global leadership significantly,” says Bromley. “It would lead us in a very short period of time to a very different world order where the U.S. has far less influence, and the influence we do have is with some rather unsavory, autocratic rulers.”

Whether Project 2025 ever morphs from aspirational to authoritative remains to be seen. But whoever the president may be come June, World Pride in Washington is a given.

“I’m a proud Washingtonian and I think this is absolutely a world-class, international city,” says Bromley. “I’m delighted to have World Pride here.

“If the Democrats win, and especially if Vice President Harris becomes our next president, it’s an incredible opportunity to bring together LGBTQI activists and communities and governments from around the world to recommit to a human-rights agenda that protects and promotes LGBTQI equality around the world.

“If President Trump wins, and especially given the divisive anti-LGBTQI posture of his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, who has sought to block ambassador postings and punish the State Department for supporting the rights of LGBTQI persons globally, I think it’s a giant protest to say that our city and the global community have a very different vision for a pluralistic, democratic, human-rights centered world that protects LGBTQI communities, that allows democracy to prosper, and creates thriving economic partners around the world.

“In either case, D.C. is the place to be, and I’m glad World Pride will be here.”