UK embassy in UAE flies rainbow flag for Pride Month, prompting discussion over LGBT+ rights in country

The British and US embassies in the UAE received mixed reviews for flying the rainbow flag to celebrate Pride month.

Taking to its official Twitter page, the @UkInUAE account posted photos of the UAE flag beside the rainbow flag on Monday.

"June is #PrideMonth and around the world we celebrate the equality and visibility of #LGBT+ people," they wrote.

"Today, we are flying the rainbow flag to affirm our pride in the UK’s diversity and our values of equality, inclusion and freedom. #Pride2021."

The post was liked 1.6k times and shared nearly as many times. Comments ranged from people supporting the move of solidarity, and others opposing it.

The US embassy also posted a photo of its own flagpole flying the American and pride flags.

"On the anniversary of Stonewall, a milestone in the American civil rights movement, the U.S. Mission shows its support for the dignity and equality of all people,” its official Twitter account post reads.

June is #PrideMonth and around the world we celebrate the equality and visibility of #LGBT+ people. Today, we are flying the rainbow flag to affirm our pride in the UK’s diversity and our values of equality, inclusion and freedom. #Pride2021 pic.twitter.com/dv3Lgl1SIV

— UKinUAE 🇬🇧🇦🇪 (@ukinuae) June 28, 2021

“Love this!” Twitter user Neha Chowdhary wrote. "Don't understand why such a pretty flag offends some people. The idea of the flag is to show love and support for people it represents, if that’s not you, move on."

Many comments however, were critical and called it “disrespectful” of the country’s Muslim-majority citizens.

"You can celebrate the day you want without it contradicting the principles of the country," one person wrote. "Please keep that in mind. We are an Islamic country and we do not support or encourage this kind of openness."

A senior Emirati official who has not been named, told CNBC that flying the flag was "strange".

Sex outside marriage is illegal in the UAE while same-sex marriages are also not recognised.

The country recently decriminalised alcohol and co-habitation for unmarried couples.

Though there is a rhetoric of tolerance, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2021, the UAE “was responsible for serious human rights violations” in 2020.

The report says that despite amendments to the law regulating personal status matters in 2019 and 2020, human rights issues remain a point of concern. 

"While the UAE did announce commendable legal reforms mostly aimed at its majority expat population, the authorities continue to clamp down fiercely on basic political and civil rights," Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said.

Political scientist Abdulkhaleq Abdulla says that the move was provocative, but “the world is changing”.

"I don't agree with the [move to] hoist the Rainbow flag above the British embassy, which some quite rightfully see as an unwarranted provocation," he said.

"But the world is changing and the UAE of today is not the UAE of the past. The world's presence [in the UAE] is massive and it's getting even bigger, and the UAE sort of has to learn to live with these changes without fearing for its own culture and traditions - which are all deeply embedded in the mind of Emiratis."