Law­mak­ers fume over ban on pride flags includ­ed in spend­ing bill to avert shut­down

A niche pol­i­cy rid­er that House Repub­li­cans tucked into text for the final appro­pri­a­tions leg­is­la­tion has fanned cul­ture war flames head­ing into a crit­i­cal vote on Fri­day.
Among the pro­vi­sions includ­ed in the $1 tril­lion minibus leg­is­la­tion is one that seeks to restrict the type of flags flown over State Depart­ment facil­i­ties, such as Amer­i­can embassies, a flash­point for social­ly con­ser­v­a­tive House GOP mem­bers since some embassies began rais­ing the gay pride rain­bow flag dur­ing the Oba­ma admin­is­tra­tion.
For House Democ­rats who are mem­bers of the LGBT com­mu­ni­ty, how­ev­er, the pol­i­cy rid­er hits clos­er to home.
“House Repub­li­cans should be ashamed of them­selves,” Rep. Mark Takano (D‑CA) said in a state­ment to the Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er. “Forc­ing their own dis­crim­i­na­to­ry views on the men and women serv­ing our coun­try abroad is down­right un-Ame …