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The president names Pulse a gay nightclub – the site of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida in 2016 – a national memory.
U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated Pride Month on Friday at the White House, a reflection of the growth in the highest level of government in the LGBTQ community.
“Pride Month represents so much,” Biden said. “It’s courage. The courage of all who live proudly of previous generations and today’s truth. He advocates for justice. Both the steps we have taken and the steps we must take. And above all, Pride Month represents love. “
Biden, on the move from Donald Trump to his former Republican, wanted to emphasize equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, officially recognizing Pride Month on June 1 and appointing LGBTQ officials to senior U.S. government positions. other actions.
“Our presence this afternoon makes a very strong statement: Pride is back in the White House,” said Biden, transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, clearly after introducing young transgender Ashton Mota.
“Being here also proves how much change is possible in America,” Buttigieg said.
“So many lives have changed, lasting defenses, moral resolutions, the political courage of many LGBTQ plus leaders and allies saved, some elected, others invisible, others long gone, others in this hall right now.”
A White House hallway was lit with the colors of the rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ movement, and Biden said he takes the corridor daily between the residence and the oval office. Also on display were a candle worn during the AIDS vigil and Matthew Shepard, who was beaten to death in 1998 and whose death inspired new hate crime laws, were on display.
Also on Friday, Biden appointed Jessica Stern as special diplomatic envoy to the LGBTQ rights department. Its responsibilities will be to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid promote and protect LGBTQ rights around the world. Stern is currently the executive director of OutRight Action International, which advocates for human rights and works to prevent the abuse of LGBTQ people.
In his new role, Stern will help put forward a presidential memorandum to advance the rights of LGBTQ people, as well as governments, nonprofits, and corporations with ideas to protect equality and dignity, according to the White House.
People attending the White House East Hall, Washington, DC, to commemorate LGBTQ + Pride Month [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
The focus also has a personal impact on the Biden administration. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House’s undersecretary of press, tweeted to her mother on Friday that she was 16 and left her sexuality in the family for many years in response to a rebellious look.
“I’m proud to be a Queer Black woman and I’ve had it for quite some time,” she wrote. “I’m happy, my mother is now proud of who I am; she loves my partner and loves to be the elegant grandmother of the daughter we are raising. “
Jean-Pierre added that the journey to acceptance was not easy, but it was worth it.
U.S. President Joe Biden turned the National Pulse Memorial into law [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]
Biden also signed the law on Friday, a measure that would make the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, a national monument. In June 2016, a mass shooting at a gay nightclub was killed 49 people and 53 injured.
“We will never fully recover, but we will remember,” Biden said when he signed legislation to establish the Florida National Pulse Memorial, along with lawmakers who worked with survivors of the shooting.
“May … no president needs to sign any other monument like this.”
A gunman attacked him in a popular place with a shotgun AR-15 style assault rifle and in one of the most deadly modern guns mass shootings In the US.
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