With this week’s White House Proclamation of LGBTQ Pride Month, President Joe Biden ends a four-year period in which the highest office of the land ignored Pride Month under Donald Trump — while damaging the LGBTQ community in a number of other ways.
President Joe Biden Tuesday morning issued an official White House LGBTQ Pride proclamation, the first since President Barack Obama.
In his “Proclamation on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month,” (below) President Biden says he is “particularly honored by the service of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in the Cabinet, and Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine, the first openly transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate.”
Biden notes that nearly 14% of his appointees are LGBTQ+, but he also acknowledges the “tragic spike in violence against transgender women of color,” and says “LGBTQ+ individuals — especially youth who defy sex or gender norms — face bullying and harassment in educational settings and are at a disproportionate risk of self-harm and death by suicide. Some States have chosen to actively target transgender youth through discriminatory bills that defy our Nation’s values of inclusivity and freedom for all.”
The Biden proclamation begins by honoring the “uprising at the Stonewall Inn in June, 1969,” which “sparked a liberation movement — a call to action that continues to inspire us to live up to our Nation’s promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all,”
“Pride is a time to recall the trials the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) community has endured and to rejoice in the triumphs of trailblazing individuals who have bravely fought — and continue to fight — for full equality. Pride is both a jubilant communal celebration of visibility and a personal celebration of self-worth and dignity. This Pride Month, we recognize the valuable contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals across America, and we reaffirm our commitment to standing in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Americans in their ongoing struggle against discrimination and injustice.”
One year ago on June 1, then-candidate Joe Biden issued issued a statement marking LGBTQ Pride month. One week later he issued an 8000 word policy plan on LGBTQ equality.
President Donald Trump, despite campaign promises and claims the LGBTQ community liked him never once issued an official LGBTQ Pride proclamation. In 2019 he posted a tweet, managing to turn the month’s focus to himself, outraging LGBTQ Americans and allies, in an effort to cover up his horrific record on LGBTQ equity and issues.
Read President Biden’s LGBTQ Pride Month proclamation here.
Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Photo via NCRM.
