Pride Month

Did President Joe Biden declare Easter Sunday to be "Transgender Day of Visibility"? No, that's not true: The Biden White House did issue a proclamation celebrating the "extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans," on March 31, as it had in each of the three prior years. In 2024, the day coincided with Easter. While Transgender Day of Visibility, started…

Did celebrity TV chef Guy Fieri publicly ban "The View" host Whoopi Goldberg in January 2024 from visiting any of his restaurants? No, that's not true: A self-described satirical website, which specializes in what it calls "the freshest fake news," first published this claim. Goldberg has denied on air that she ever was kicked out of Fieri's restaurants. The claim…

Did the state of California declare a "Trans History Month" before declaring a Women's History Month? No, that's not true: California first recognized Women's History Month in 1988, and the governor has proclaimed it every March since 1995. California is tentatively planning to celebrate its first Transgender History Month in August 2024, roughly 36 years after its first Women's History…

Did Starbucks cancel Pride Month in its retail locations? No, that's not true: There is nothing to suggest that Starbucks, as a company, has canceled Pride Month. Starbucks has historically shown support for the LGBTQ community and has been known to actively participate in Pride Month celebrations. However, there is evidence that a tiny percentage of the company's more than…

Has the LGBTQIA2S+ community officially added a purported symbol of the autism community to the Progress Pride flag as of June 18, 2023? No, that's not true: There is no such thing as an "official flag creator for prides and LGBT" organizations, and there are numerous versions of such flags. The claim was made in a post on Twitter (archived…

Did the United Nations Headquarters in New York City replace the iconic display of flags from the 193 member nations with rainbow flags for Pride Month? No, that's not true: The mislabeled photo included in a tweet does not depict the United Nations but shows the Pride Month display of flags circling The Rink at privately owned Rockefeller Center in…

Did the Italian government announce "Family Pride Month" to celebrate heterosexual "mothers and fathers" instead of the LGBTQ+ community? No, that's not true: While Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been criticized domestically and internationally for her government's policies on LGBT+ issues, the country did not officially replace Pride Month with the celebration of heterosexual families. The claim appeared in…

Is the French monument known as the Arc de Triomphe decorated with a giant rainbow for Pride Month? No, that's not true: This is work done by an artist who works in the medium of videos. Video artist Ian Padgham used three-dimensional animation processes and "lots of hand-edited details" to create this artwork. There are no credible news outlets reporting…

Did Walt Disney World remove "all American flags" and replace them with "the Pride flag" to honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights? No, that's not true: As of May 25, 2023, the Walt Disney Company had not announced such a change ahead of LGBTQ Pride Month, the annual June commemoration of the LGBTQ+ rights struggle. The claim…

Does a pastel rainbow "MAP" flag signify normalizing pedophilia? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that it is an official "MAP or YAP pride flag." An organization that works with "MAP," which stands for minor attracted persons, has denied that the flag is a symbol for the people associated with the term. The claim appeared in a video (archived…