President Joe Biden on Tuesday issued a proclamation formally recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month. While the month is very often a celebratory event to commemorate achievements by the community, the president’s proclamation acknowledged the “relentless” attacks the LGBTQ community has been facing at the hands of Republican bigots since last year in particular.
“An onslaught of dangerous anti-LGBTQI+ legislation has been introduced and passed in states across the country, targeting transgender children and their parents and interfering with their access to health care,” the president said. “These unconscionable attacks have left countless LGBTQI+ families in fear and pain.”
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President Biden raised the issue of rising hatred directed at LGBTQ children and adults on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia last month, saying that despite “much progress,” the nation continues to “witness disturbing setbacks and rising hate and violence targeting LGBTQI+ people in the United States and around the world.” He called it “wrong.”
“All of this compounded has been especially difficult on LGBTQI+ youth, 45% of whom seriously considered attempting suicide in the last year—a devastating reality that our nation must work urgently to address,” he continued in his proclamation this week.
More than half of Trevor Project survey respondents who said they “seriously considered suicide in the past year identify as transgender or nonbinary and are under the age of 18,” Daily Kos’ Marissa Higgins wrote last month. Trevor Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing suicide among LGBTQ youth, has itself come under attack from extremists using despicable “groomer” terminology pushed by Christina Pushaw, degenerate internet troll and press secretary for Florida’s Ron DeSantis.
“This month, we remind the LGBTQI+ community that they are loved and cherished,” Biden continued. “My administration sees you for who you are—deserving of dignity, respect, and support. As I said in my State of the Union Address—especially to our younger transgender Americans—I will always have your back as your President so that you can be yourself and reach your God-given potential.”
The Biden administration from day one has taken a number of sweeping actions to protect the rights and dignity of LGBTQ Americans, as well as their children, last year announcing an end to the policy that denied U.S. citizenship to kids born abroad to same-sex couples. Higgins wrote that in a “quiet but poignant victory,” the Biden administration last year said it would allow LGBTQ+ seniors to access Social Security survivor benefits, “just like folks in heterosexual relationships.” Higgins also noted last year that Biden was the first U.S. president to issue a proclamation recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility. Last month, Karine Jean-Pierre became the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ person to serve as White House Press Secretary.
“Today and every day, my administration stands with every LGBTQI+ American in the ongoing struggle against intolerance, discrimination, and injustice,” Biden said. “We condemn the dangerous state laws and bills that target LGBTQI+ youth. And we remain steadfast in our commitment to helping LGBTQI+ people in America and around the world live free from violence.”
“But there is more work to be done,” he continued. “That is why I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, which will enshrine long overdue civil rights protections and build a better future for all LGBTQI+ Americans.” While the House passed the legislation last year, it’s stalled in the Senate due to the Jim Crow filibuster. Kyrsten Sinema, an openly bisexual lawmaker, adamantly supports the Jim Crow filibuster and was one of two Senate Democrats to join Republicans in opposing waiving the rules one time in order to pass a voting rights package.
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