Russian leader Vladimir Putin mocked the United States Embassy in Moscow after it decided to fly the rainbow pride flag. During a conference on Friday, Putin was told that the American embassy in Moscow decided to display a rainbow pride flag on its facade to join with the celebration of Pride Month for June. Putin then asked who works in the building. After he was told that it was Americans who used the building he said, “Let them celebrate.” The Russian leader then added with a smile, “It tells you a certain something about the people who work there.”

On that same day, Putin signed amendments to their constitution. Those amendments have been backed by a vote. One of the changes to the constitution is the definition of marriage. They have defined marriage now as a union of a man and woman.

Putin claims that he is not discriminating against those who belong to the LGBTQ community. What he is against is the promotion of the lifestyle to minors. He says that when people grow up, they can decide on what kind of lifestyle they would like to follow.

Putin has made a strong stance on protecting the role of the family in society. During the debates for the amendments to the constitution, he said that he will not allow the role of the father and the mother to be destroyed.

President Donald Trump has banned the display of the flag during Pride Month in American embassies all over the world. The banning was not a move to go against LGBTQ rights as some leftists tried to paint it but rather a move to distance the embassies within the country where they are located. LGBTQ rights can be a controversial subject in many countries and flying the Pride flag in an American embassy might be seen as meddling into a country’s affairs.

That is exactly what had happened in Russia. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has said that the displayed flag was something disrespectful to Russian values. That kind of controversy is exactly the kind of thing that embassies should avoid. Unfortunately, there are several other embassies that have chosen to ignore the order of President Donald Trump and have displayed the flag in their buildings.