The Biden administration's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scheduled Pride Month events during government working hours, including a pansexual forum and LGBTQ educational videos at a federal law enforcement training center, according to records obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The 20-page June 2023 calendar details planned events at FEMA, the Secret Service, immigration agencies and other DHS components, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA). President Donald Trump subsequently ordered federal agencies to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, raising questions about whether the activities documented in the records continued under his administration.
The DCNF asked DHS whether it had discontinued the Biden-era Pride Month programming, whether similar events occurred in 2025 or 2026, and what policy changes the Trump administration implemented regarding DEI initiatives and employee activities. The White House referred to the DHS, which did not respond to a request for comment.
"The Biden DHS failed the country in many ways, and part of the reason for its failure was its focus on non-mission-oriented activities such as these," James Fitzpatrick, director of CASA, told the DCNF. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Unearthed Data Sheds Light On Military's Transgenderism Explosion Under Biden)
For the past three years, we have raised the Pride Progress flag at the @DHSgov headquarters to recognize the start of #PrideMonth. Today, we continue this tradition – a symbol of our commitment to stand with our LGBTQ+ colleagues and the community with pride. pic.twitter.com/O3J5gwGDXs
— ARCHIVED: Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (@SecMayorkas) June 2, 2023
Trump directed federal agencies to terminate covered DEI programs on Jan. 20, 2025, according to the White House. The following day, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) instructed agencies to close diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) offices and cancel related training, according to OPM.
FEMA Pride scheduled a "Bisexual and Pansexual Forum" for June 13, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., according to the DHS records provided by CASA. The agency also listed a transgender and gender-nonconforming forum on June 20, an intersex forum on June 22 and an asexual forum on June 27, all scheduled for the afternoon.
FEMA and OPM did not respond to requests for comment.
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) planned a June 27 video watch party and discussion at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, according to the records obtained by CASA. The schedule listed videos titled "A Living History of the LGBT Movement Since the 1800s" and "LGBTQ+ 101: An introduction to Queer community."
At DHS headquarters in Washington, D.C., the calendar included a June 2 Pride flag-raising ceremony with then-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Deputy Secretary John Tien. Photographs released by DHS confirm both officials attended the ceremony, according to the department. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Air Force Doc Appeared To Reassure Medical Staff They Couldn't Be Sued For Sex Changes On Minors)
The Secret Service and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services also planned a June 7 program featuring a speaker described as the first intersex and transgender graduate of the Secret Service's Law Enforcement Officer Academy, according to the records provided by CASA. The speaker's name was redacted in the released documents.
The Secret Service did not respond to a request for comment.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement listed a June 22 virtual "Lunch and Learn" session on transgender employees in the workplace, according to the DHS schedule. Other entries covered Pride celebrations, employee newsletters, displays and participation in public parades across several DHS components, according to records obtained by CASA.
Some calendar entries included specific business-hour times, while others were marked "time TBD" or simply "month of June," according to the records. The document does not detail the cost of the programming, employee attendance or whether every scheduled activity ultimately occurred. (RELATED: Air Force Awarded Nearly $750,000 For AI-Powered DEI Training Tool Under Biden)
It remains unclear whether DHS discontinued the specific Pride Month activities documented in the 2023 records or held comparable events in June 2025 and June 2026. The department has not provided clarification on which programs were affected by Trump's anti-DEI directives.
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