A decorated FBI special agent trainee says his firing over a Pride flag display has triggered a new wave of fear inside the bureau. David Maltinsky, 36, was dismissed three weeks before graduating from the FBI Academy in Quantico. He told The Advocate that LGBTQ+ employees across all 56 field offices reacted within hours. He said, “People immediately started scouring their desks of Pride flags, anything personal in nature, even..It spread like wildfire.” Maltinsky’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court, alleges FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pamela Bondi unconstitutionally terminated him for displaying a Progress Pride flag at his Los Angeles workstation years earlier — a flag the FBI once flew itself.
He warned, “There’s definitely concern…that a Lavender Scare has been sparked.” He described a dramatic shift from earning top diversity awards to suddenly being seen as a political target. Civil rights attorney Chris Mattei, representing Maltinsky, called the firing part of a wider purge. Maltinsky, now unhoused and jobless, says he’s fighting for every LGBTQ+ employee afraid to be visible. He said, “Stay the course. Stay strong.”
