Celebrating Pride, Biden Tells LGBTQ Community: ‘Your President and My Administration Have your Back’
Biden touts successes and challenges ahead for equality
President Biden kicked off Pride month for the LGBTQ community Friday with a White House proclamation, vowing that he and his administration “have your back.”
June has long been recognized as Pride Month for LGBTQ people to celebrate their identity and their community.
“For generations, LGBTQI+ Americans have summoned the courage to live authentically and proudly — even when it meant putting their lives and livelihoods at risk,” Biden said with his proclamation, referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex Americans. “In 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in New York, brave LGBTQI+ individuals protested the violence and marginalization they faced, boosting a civil rights movement for the liberation of LGBTQI+ people that has transformed our Nation.
“Since then, courageous LGBTQI+ Americans continue to inspire and bring hope to all people seeking a life true to who they are. LGBTQI+ people also continue to enrich every aspect of American life as educators, entertainers, entrepreneurs, athletes, actors, artists, scientists, scholars, diplomats, doctors, service members, veterans, and so much more,” he added.
With his proclamation, Biden outlined steps that he has taken on behalf of LGBTQ Americans, including lifting the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in the US military, signing the Respect for Marriage Act, which protects the marriage of same-sex and interracial couples as well as other executive actions he and his administration have taken.
“Advancing equality for the LGBTQI+ community is a top priority for my Administration,” Biden said.
The president also acknowledged that there is much more to do.
“Last year, as we celebrated Pride Month on the South Lawn of the White House, I had the honor of meeting survivors of the Club Q and Pulse shootings, which tragically took the lives of LGBTQI+ Americans,” Biden’s statement said. “Although my Administration passed the most significant gun law in nearly 30 years, the Congress must do its part and ban assault weapons.
“At the same time, families across the country face excruciating decisions to relocate to a different State to protect their children from dangerous and hateful anti-LGBTQI+ laws, which target transgender children, threaten families, and criminalize doctors and nurses,” his statement added. “These bills and laws attack our most basic values and freedoms as Americans: the right to be yourself, the right to make your own medical decisions, and the right to raise your own children. Some things should never be put at risk: your life, your safety, and your dignity.
“To the entire LGBTQI+ community — and especially transgender children — please know that your President and my entire Administration have your back,” the statement said. “We see you for who you are: made in the image of God and deserving of dignity, respect, and support.”
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