President Joe Biden celebrated Pride Month after four years of former President Donald Trump by declaring the Pulse nightclub a national memorial and ripping Republicans for passing a slew of anti-transgender laws.
“Our presence here this afternoon makes a simple strong statement: Pride is back at the White House,” Biden said Friday.
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Biden described the monthlong celebration of diversity as commemorating the courage of previous generations and people who now may “proudly live their truth.”
“Above all, Pride Month stands for love, you know, being able to love yourself, love whoever you love, love this country enough to make it more fair and more free and more just,” he said.
And from the White House East Room, Biden called out Republican governors and legislatures for passing a spate of anti-gay laws, many of which apply to transgender people, as “some of the ugliest, most un-American bills I’ve seen.”
“Let’s be clear: This is nothing more than bullying disguised as legislation,” he said.
Biden was introduced Friday by Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate. During his remarks, Buttigieg, who was accompanied by his husband, Chasten, slammed politicians “who deny someone can be transgender at all.”
“Telling America that transgender people do not exist amounts to telling very real transgender people that they should not exist,” he said.
Earlier, Biden signed a bill establishing the National Pulse Memorial and Museum. This year is the fifth anniversary of the shooting, in which a lone gunman killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Biden also named Jessica Stern as a State Department-based special envoy to promote and protect gay rights abroad through diplomacy and foreign aid.
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During his address, Biden touted how roughly 130 United States embassies around the world fly the rainbow Pride flag outside their facilities. The White House has been illuminated this week with the same colors.
