Senate Democrats introduce measure recognizing Pride Month

“This year, the White House broke with an 8-year tradition and did not issue a presidential proclamation acknowledging June as Pride Month. So I’m proud to lead the first-ever Senate resolution recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month. And today, I’m equally proud that so many of my colleagues heartily agreed to cosponsor,” Brown said in a series of tweets. “An outpouring of support for the LGBTQ community. We must always stand with our LGBTQ friends and neighbors—not just during the month of June, but year round.”

The resolution specifically notes major events in the “fight for equal treatment of LGBTQ Americans,” including the 1969 Stonewall Riots, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges and the 2009 signing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Twenty Democratic senators joined Brown in sponsoring the resolution.

LGBT Pride Month is celebrated every June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, which took place June 28, 1969, in Manhattan, N.Y.

Trump received criticism from LGBT advocacy organizations like GLAAD and former Obama administration staffers for his decision not to issue a proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month.

Recognition of Pride Month has fallen along party lines since the 1990s.

Former President Bill Clinton issued his first proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month in 1999, but former President George W. Bush did not during the entirety of his presidency.

The practice resumed when former President Barack Obama took office in 2009. Obama recognized June as LGBTQ Pride Month each year of his presidency.

One member of the Trump family did recognize Pride Month.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and a senior adviser at the White House, took to her Twitter to celebrate.

“Logging back on after Shavuot, wishing everyone a joyful #Pride2017. This month we celebrate and honor the #LGBTQ community,” she said on her Twitter.