Gay pride Iwo Jima picture sparks fierce backlash after Supreme Court ruling

A World War II-themed gay pride photo taken over a decade ago has received renewed attention since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriage last week.

Photographer Ed Freeman is under fire from critics for posting an photo of four men hoisting a gay pride flag as if they were the U.S. Marines captured in Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s iconic Iwo Jima image.

“When I took this picture almost ten years ago, it never, never occurred to me that it would someday come to symbolize the victory we are celebrating today. Congratulations to all of us! Love to you all,” Mr. Freeman wrote June 26 on his Facebook page. An avalanche of criticism followed, including a death threat reported to the FBI, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The image was originally taken for the gay magazine Frontiers 10 years ago.

“He said if he ever saw me, he’d kill me,” Mr. Freeman told the newspaper of the death threat. “I got swamped with vitriolic hate mail.”

“Let me tell you what I think it symbolizes. Total disrespect for the men and women who fought and died so pathetic, ignorant, and yes, unpatriotic people like yourself can denigrate their sacrifices to this once great nation,” Facebook user Claire Young said.

“As a Marine I’m very appalled at your picture I think it’s a disgrace to the Marine Corps history and the men that died on the island for your freedom is way out of context of the moment that It meant for the Marines and fellow Americans at that time. All I gotta say is you got the Marine Corps Community pissed off at you you better hope that you don’t run across any of those pissed off Marines,” another user wrote.

Mr. Freeman told The Post he did not mean to disrespect U.S. military history or personnel who fought and died during World War II.

“The principle complaint that people have is that I am equating the gay struggle with the contribution and sacrifice of American servicemen. But there is no equal sign here. This is not meant as a sign of disrespect. For God’s sake, no. I totally support people in uniform. There is no comparison going on here,” Mr. Freeman said, The Post reported.