When Vice President Mike Pence visited Iceland this week he was greeted with signs of Pride in response to his well-known anti-LGBTQ record.
Pence arrived at Höfði House in Reykjavík on Wednesday and technology company Advania, located across the street, took the opportunity to fly Pride flags from their poles.
“We just felt the need to celebrate diversity today and wanted to show that by flying the flags,” the company’s director, Ægir Már Þórisson, told the Iceland Monitor.
The headquarters of the Efling union, which is also nearby, also flew rainbow flags.
so at his stop at Höfði (house where Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavík occurred), @vp was met by this not-so-subtle display and then the mayor said he grieved the loss of the INF treaty that emerged from the summit but was recently withdrawn from by the trump administration pic.twitter.com/89P8nQmupc
— Justin Sink (@justinsink) September 4, 2019
Iceland President Guðni Jóhannesson also brought Pride to the meeting, donning a rainbow bracelet.
also, Iceland‘s President Jóhannesson wore a rainbow bracelet (as he did while meeting with Putin) during photo op with Pence today pic.twitter.com/kCAUzUiafo
— Justin Sink (@justinsink) September 4, 2019
He did the same when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin, another notorious anti-LGBTQ leader.
First Lady Eliza Reed also wore a rainbow bracelet, as well as a white suit, reminiscent of the fashion choice Democratic U.S. congresswomen made during this year’s State of the Union address, which was a nod to the suffragettes.
Not that I needed another reason to love #Iceland's First Lady #ElizaReid, but all hail the white pantsuit and rainbow bracelet she donned for her meeting with #MikePence. #equality Pic by MBL pic.twitter.com/BdbkdFe8nC
— Melissa Jun Rowley (@MelissaRowley) September 5, 2019
As HuffPost noted, the couple wears the bracelets with some regularity, so it was unclear if the accessory choice was in relation to Pence’s visit, but it seems safe to say they made a clear choice not to leave them at home.