Anti-LGBTQ+ Trump-backed gubernatorial candidate offended by Pride flag over Wisconsin Capitol

Hours after the Progress Pride flag was raised over the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison to mark the start of Pride Month, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, a congressman representing the state, renewed a campaign pledge to remove it if elected governor, saying only the American and Wisconsin flags should fly above the building.

Tiffany, a Republican congressman from northern Wisconsin, has made opposition to Pride flags a recurring theme of his campaign. In a video posted to social media Monday from a podcast appearance, he criticized Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' administration and said he would end the practice of flying Pride flags over state property. Evers is not seeking reelection.

“This is the same governor that flies multiple flags over the state capitol,” Tiffany said. “If I'm governor, we're going to fly two flags, the United States flag and the Wisconsin state flag, and that's it. I mean, let's unite people. Let's not tear them apart as he has been doing.”

Tiffany reiterated that position in a statement provided Monday by Wisconsin Radio Network News Director Bob Hague.

“In addition to the POW-MIA flag, Tom Tiffany will fly two flags over the State Capitol: the Wisconsin state flag and the American flag,” Tiffany said. “State Government should focus on representing the people of Wisconsin as a whole and remain a place of unity rather than division.”

Related: Discover the origins and meanings of these 36 Pride flags

The dispute is ostensibly about flags. But like similar battles playing out in schools, government buildings, and public spaces nationwide, it is also a debate about whether LGBTQ+ communities should be publicly recognized by the institutions that serve them.

Under Evers, who has repeatedly vetoed Republican-backed restrictions targeting transgender youth, that tradition of raising the Pride flag has continued even as national politics have grown more polarized around LGBTQ+ rights.

Tiffany has challenged the practice repeatedly. During a March radio appearance, he pledged that only the American and Wisconsin flags would fly over the Capitol if he became governor. He returned to the issue at a May campaign event, saying Wisconsin needed to get “back to basics” and arguing that other flags should not be displayed on state property.

The issue has become part of a broader effort by conservatives across the country to restrict Pride flag displays in public institutions. Supporters of those measures argue that government buildings should display only official state and national symbols. LGBTQ+ advocates counter that Pride flags are not partisan statements but affirmations that LGBTQ+ people belong in the communities where they live, work, and pay taxes.

Related: LGBTQ+ groups score legal victory over Trump, restoring Pride flag at Stonewall National Monument

Tiffany's stance on Pride flags is consistent with a broader record opposing LGBTQ+ rights legislation.

In 2022, he voted against the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the Court should reconsider decisions including Obergefell v. Hodges. Tiffany later described the legislation as “fearmongering and misdirection.”

He also voted against the Equality Act, which would have added explicit federal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, education, and public accommodations.

The flag raised over the Capitol on Monday will remain through June.