An image shared on Twitter claims the United Nations (UN) purportedly replaced all 193 country flags with LGBT flags.
Why do they force this on people? pic.twitter.com/uosVxpesnh
— Dr. Anastasia Maria Loupis (@DrLoupis) June 8, 2023
Verdict: False
The image shows LGBT flags on display at Rockefeller Plaza, according to a file publicly available on Wikimedia Commons. A UN spokesperson denied the claim in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
The UN will re-join its education, science, and culture agency UNESCO, the agency’s director-general Audrey Azoulay, announced Monday, according to CBS News. Former President Donald Trump left UNESCO nearly six years ago over its alleged anti-Israel bias, The Hill reported.
“The United Nations replaces all 193 country flags with LGBT flags,” the image, which shows the LGBT flag display and has been viewed over two million times, purports. “Why do they force this on people?” the image’s caption reads.
The claim is false. The image shows LGBT flags on display at Rockefeller Plaza, according to a file publicly available on Wikimedia Commons. An English translation of the image’s caption indicates the flags were displayed at Rockefeller Plaza to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 2019.
Similarly, an image published via Reuters Pictures shows the flags on display at Rockefeller Plaza in 2020 to mark the fifty-first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. A photo of LGBT flags displayed on the plaza also appears on Rockefeller Center’s website, where an online event listing outlines 2023 Pride Month celebrations from Jun. 1 to 30.
Despite the claim circulating on Twitter, the UN has neither issued a statement via its website nor its verified social media accounts announcing it had replaced all 193 country flags with LGBT flags. (RELATED: Did The United Nations Say ‘Children Must Have Sexual Partners?’)
In addition, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports supporting the claim. If the UN had replaced all 193 country flags with LGBT flags, the media would have covered it.
“The statement in the image is false and the image itself is not of the United Nations. We have not replaced the Member States flags outside our Headquarters or any other UN building,” a UN spokesperson denied the claim in an email to Check Your Fact.
Check Your Fact has also contacted Rockefeller Center for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.