TL;DR

• FBI trainee David Maltinsky was fired weeks before graduation for displaying a Pride flag years earlier.
• His termination under Director Kash Patel triggered fear across FBI offices, with LGBTQ staff removing queer symbols.
• Maltinsky is suing, alleging unconstitutional retaliation and a politically motivated purge.
• The situation echoes the historic 1950s Lavender Scare, when queer federal workers were systematically ousted.
• Advocates warn the bureau’s integrity, morale, and recruitment are at risk as queer employees fear visibility.

A Fired Trainee, a Pride Flag, and an FBI Panic Spiral

If you want to know how fast fear can spread inside the most powerful law enforcement agency in America, talk to David Maltinsky — the FBI trainee whose firing detonated a panic so intense it had queer agents literally scrubbing their desks clean of Pride.

The 36-year-old Los Angeles specialist was just three weeks away from graduating the FBI Academy when Director Kash Patel — Donald Trump’s hand-picked loyalist — booted him for one reason: years earlier, he kept a Progress Pride flag on his desk. A flag the FBI itself once flew. A flag the FBI literally borrowed from him.

Now unemployed, unhoused, and suing the federal government, Maltinsky says he’s not the only queer person under attack — not by a long shot.

“This threat of dismissal can now come from inside your workplace,” he told The Advocate. “People immediately started scouring their desks of Pride flags, anything personal in nature.”

Within hours, he said, Pride stickers vanished. Desk décor disappeared. LGBTQ staff whispered frantic warnings down the bureau’s famously fast internal grapevine. The FBI had seen fear before — but not like this.

A New Lavender Scare — And It’s Spreading

The original Lavender Scare in the 1950s destroyed thousands of queer federal workers under the guise of “security risk.” It was vicious, career-crushing, and largely erased from mainstream history.

Yet here we are in 2025, watching the sequel nobody asked for.

“There’s definitely concern… that a Lavender Scare has been sparked,” Maltinsky said. This time it’s not the Cold War paranoia of Eisenhower — it’s an administration that treats LGBTQ visibility like an act of rebellion and demands loyalty tests from institutions meant to remain apolitical.

And Kash Patel, critics say, is leading the charge.

From Award-Winning Advocate to Political Target

The irony is painful: Maltinsky spent 16 years in the FBI building LGBTQ inclusion into the agency’s DNA.

He:

• Chaired the FBI’s LGBTQ advisory committee
• Marched in Pride parades wearing bureau gear
• Advised leadership on queer policy
• Earned the FBI Director’s Award for Diversity & Inclusion
• Won the Attorney General’s Award for Equal Employment Opportunity

He wasn’t hiding. He wasn’t subtle. For years, he was celebrated.

Then the administration changed — and suddenly, the same Pride flag he helped raise over a federal building allegedly became “political signage.”

Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi retroactively deemed his Pride décor a terminable offense, even though it had been displayed with leadership’s blessing.

“From being honored to being fired — it’s terrifying,” Maltinsky said. “How did we get here?”

A Bureau in Crisis

Maltinsky’s case isn’t isolated. It’s part of what attorneys describe as a sweeping purge.

Civil rights lawyer Chris Mattei, representing Maltinsky, said three senior FBI leaders were also removed for failing to carry out politically motivated directives.

“If your identity or perceived politics are ‘out of step’ with MAGA ideology, they’ll get rid of you,” Mattei said. “It upends everything FBI agents are taught to believe.”

Agents across the country now fear that rainbow visibility — or even a whiff of dissent — could cost them their job. The panic strikes at recruiting, morale, and the agency’s credibility.

In short: this isn’t just “culture war.” It’s operational instability.

The Human Cost

Maltinsky gave up his L.A. apartment for training. After Patel fired him, he had nowhere to sleep and no paycheck coming.

“I’ve been leaning on friends,” he said. “They’ve been incredible.”

But he insists this fight isn’t about him — it’s about every queer federal employee who now wonders whether they’re safe at work.

“To anyone afraid to display their Pride flag,” he said, “I am here fighting for you.”

And in a government where LGBTQ workers once marched proudly in uniform, the fact that such reassurance is needed says everything.

This story hits deep. Visibility is survival for queer workers — especially in federal spaces that historically erased us. When Pride flags become “political,” when LGBTQ employees fear retaliation, and when leadership demands ideological obedience, queer people lose safety, community, and representation.

What’s happening inside the FBI isn’t just a scandal — it’s a warning.