White House Rebukes Activists Who Flipped Off Reagan Portrait: ‘Behavior Like This Doesn’t Belong Anywhere’
Matthew "Matty" Hart, left, Mark Segal, center, and Zoe Strauss, right, pose in front of portraits of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush at the White House. (Image source: Philadelphia Magazine)
The White House on Friday castigated the gay activists who posed for pictures while giving the middle finger to a portrait of former President Ronald Reagan during a recent visit.
“While the White House does not control the conduct of guests at receptions, we certainly expect that all attendees conduct themselves in a respectful manner. Most all do,” White House spokesman Shin Inouye told Fox News. “These individuals clearly did not. Behavior like this doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all in the White House.”
Matthew “Matty” Hart and Zoe Strauss were among a group of activists invited to an LGBT reception at the White House earlier this month. Photos first published in Philadelphia Magazine showed them posing in front of the Reagan portrait with their middle fingers raised. Hart, the national director of public engagement at Solutions for Progress, posted his photo on Facebook with the caption, “F–k Reagan.” Strauss, who also took a photo beneath the portrait kissing another woman, posted hers on Twitter with the caption “F–K YOU, REAGAN.”
Neither Strauss nor Hart responded to The Blaze’s requests for comment.
A third photo published in Philadelphia Magazine depicted Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal giving a “sarcastic” thumbs-up to the portrait of former President George W. Bush.
“It’s not a gesture that I would use in the White House when representing our city and our community,” Segal said of the middle finger poses.
Follow Madeleine Morgenstern on Twitter
Read more stories from TheBlaze
Gay Activists Visiting White House Take Photos of Themselves Flipping Off Reagan Portrait
Exclusive: S.E. Cupp to Co-Host New MSNBC Show ‘The Cycle’
Here Are 6 New Facts You Need to Know About the Abused Bus Driver Incident
How Does Beck Predict the Election Will Go? See His Electoral Map Here (And Do Your Own)
