US issues global terror alert ahead of Pride Month, fearing attacks on LGBTQ+ community
State Department warns US citizens overseas to exercise caution; Blinken: Community faces ‘insidious forms of stigma and discrimination’
WASHINGTON – The US State Department on Friday issued a worldwide caution security alert, saying it is aware of increased potential for foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence against LGBTQ+ people and events.
“Due to the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against US citizens and interests, the Department of State advises US citizens overseas to exercise increased caution,” the department said in a statement.
The alert comes two weeks before the start of LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the United States.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement people in the LGBTQ+ community “continue to face insidious forms of stigma and discrimination.”
The global notice came three days after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a similar public warning that armed foreign extremist groups or their followers may target events and venues linked to June’s Pride month.
US officials released no details of the threats that are prompting the warnings. But some countries recently have passed anti-LGBTQ laws, including one the Iraqi parliament approved late last month that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people.
A Uganda court upheld a law last month that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality” and up to 14 years in prison for a suspect convicted of “attempted aggravated homosexuality.”
Both have drawn harsh criticism from the US and others around the world.
Pride month, held in June in the US and some parts of the world, celebrates LGBTQ+ communities and protests against attacks on their gains.
This year’s Jerusalem’s Pride and Tolerance March will gather under the slogan “Born to be Free,” combining a call for the release of 132 hostages held by Hamas and other terror groups in the Gaza Strip to its customary rally in support of LGBTQ rights. Tel Aviv has cancelled its flagship parade in the shadow of the war.
