Washington, DC -
President Barack Obama on Friday signed a proclamation recognizing June as Gay Pride month.
Obama noted recent victories on the marriage front but said that more needs to be done.
"This year, we celebrate LGBT Pride Month at a moment of great hope and progress, recognizing that more needs to be done," Obama said. "Support for LGBT equality is growing, led by a generation which understands that, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' In the past year, for the first time, voters in multiple states affirmed marriage equality for same-sex couples. State and local governments have taken important steps to provide much-needed protections for transgender Americans."
He added that he supports passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
"We have a long way to go, but if we continue on this path together, I am confident that one day soon, from coast to coast, all of our young people will look to the future with the same sense of promise and possibility," the president added.
President Bill Clinton was the first president to recognize Gay Pride month in 1999.
Obama noted recent victories on the marriage front but said that more needs to be done.
"This year, we celebrate LGBT Pride Month at a moment of great hope and progress, recognizing that more needs to be done," Obama said. "Support for LGBT equality is growing, led by a generation which understands that, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' In the past year, for the first time, voters in multiple states affirmed marriage equality for same-sex couples. State and local governments have taken important steps to provide much-needed protections for transgender Americans."
He added that he supports passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and legislative repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples.
"We have a long way to go, but if we continue on this path together, I am confident that one day soon, from coast to coast, all of our young people will look to the future with the same sense of promise and possibility," the president added.
President Bill Clinton was the first president to recognize Gay Pride month in 1999.
Article provided in partnership with On Top Magazine
