Mr. Ashcroft's Neighborhood

[elfs]

Justice Department officials told a group of its employees, called DOJ Pride, that it could not hold its annual gay pride event at the department because the White House had not formally recognized Gay Pride Month with a presidential proclamation, Marina Colby, a department policy analyst who is president of the group, said. The group represents several hundred gay and lesbian employees at the department. This is the first time since DOJ Pride's founding in 1996 that its request for department recognition has been turned down.

Bush has recognized over 250 other "significant events," such as Greek Independence Day, Leif Erikson Day, Save Your Vision Week and National Hospice Month, but declined Gay Pride Month because he did not want to "politicize people's sexual orientation."

See: Justice Dept. Bans Event by Gay Staff at the New York Times.