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US President Joe Biden speaks at the Pride Month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10, 2023 in Washington, DC.
The president officially proclaimed June 2024 to be Pride Month in an announcement on Friday.
President Joe Biden is recognizing Pride Month this year saying the period celebrating LGBTQ+ life, experiences, struggles, and history, helps to “reflect on the progress we have made so far in pursuit of equality, justice, and inclusion.”
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Biden pointed to the “courage” of LGBTQ+ people to live out and proud even when it was dangerous to do so.
Evoking the Stonewall uprising in 1969, the president said that since that catalyst for LGBTQ+ civil rights in the U.S., “courageous LGBTQI+ Americans continue to inspire and bring hope to all people seeking a life true to who they are.”
In the proclamation, Biden referred to his administration’s advancement of LGBTQ+ rights, including his signing of the Respect for Marriage Act, his order ending the ban on trans service members in the military, as well as executive orders protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in health care, employment, education, and more. He referred to his administration’s push to end conversion therapy and to stop the ongoing HIV epidemic.
The president referenced the ongoing attacks against LGBTQ+ people, especially those who are transgender and LGBTQ+ youth. The ACLU is tracking more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the U.S. as of May 31.
“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,” Biden said in the proclamation.
He also mentioned the violence queer people have faced in attacks at Club Q in 2022 and Pulse in 2016.
“We are doing this work here at home and around the globe, where LGBTQI+ community members are fighting for recognition of their fundamental human rights and seeking to live full lives, free from hate-fueled violence and discrimination,” Biden said.
“ I call upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQI+ community,” Biden said, “to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high.”
