Vice President Mike Pence was greeted
with rainbow pride flags as he participated in Saturday's St.
Patrick's Day parade in Savannah, Georgia.
Activists also held signs that read
“Mike Pence Is A Homophobe” and “The Devil Went Down to
Georgia.”
According to the AP, the protesters
followed Pence as he marched, waving rainbow flags in the background
as he was photographed.
“VP Pence came to Savannah to march
in our parade,” tweeted @frannipan. “And every. single. picture
taken of him has a pride flag in the background.”
Pence ignored the protesters, but
“stopped to hug a woman next to them holding a banner saying 'Team
Trump Rebuild America,'” the AP reported.
Pence has a long record of opposing
LGBT rights in the U.S. House and as governor of Indiana.
He made national headlines in 2015 when
he signed a bill into law that opponents said would allow business
owners to refuse to serve members of the LGBT community based on
their religious beliefs. Then-Governor Pence at first defended his
decision to sign the bill, but a growing backlash pushed him to call
for a “fix” to the law. Pence is also opposed to same-sex
marriage. In Congress, he voted against the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”
and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention
Act.
In October, the White House denied a
report that President Donald Trump once joked Pence “wants to hang”
all gay people.
(Related: White
House denies Trump joked that Mike Pence “wants to hang” all gay
people.)