Obama, Biden Celebrate LGBT Pride
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | June 27, 2020
In videos released Friday, former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden celebrated LGBT Pride Month and reflected on wins at the Supreme Court.
Friday was the fifth anniversary of Obergefell, the Supreme Court ruling that led to nationwide marriage equality. Earlier this month, the high court ruled that an existing federal civil rights law extended to LGBT workers.
(Related: Five years after same-sex marriage ruling, Jim Obergefell says he's still grieving.)
In videos for Pride Live's Stonewall Day, Obama said that the Stonewall riots that kicked off the modern LGBT rights movement had led to wins for the community at the Supreme Court.
“We’re almost 51 years since the night when the patrons at the Stonewall Inn stood up for their rights and set off one of America’s defining victories for civil rights,” Obama said. “Because of the movement they sparked and the decades of work that followed, marriage equality became the law of the land five years ago and just this month the Supreme Court ruled that employers can no longer discriminate against LGBTQ workers.”
“All that progress is worth celebrating and reflecting on,” Obama continued. “The struggle and triumph for LGBTQ rights shows how protests and politics go hand in hand, how we’ve got to both shine a light on injustice and translate those aspirations into specific laws and institutional practices.”
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and his wife Dr. Jill Biden also recorded a video for the event, which was held online.
“Pride is particularly poignant this year,” Biden said. “Even as the LGBTQ+ rights continued to be attacked, the Supreme Court has affirmed protections for LGBTQ+ people against employment discrimination.”
In contrast, President Donald Trump has yet to officially recognize Pride Month.
(Related: For third year, Trump doesn't recognize LGBT Pride.)
Pride Live's Stonewall Day event raised funds for LGBT groups affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Also participating in the event were Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Geena Rocero, George Takei, and many others.