OBAMA PROCLAIMS GAY PRIDE
In a historic first for a sitting US President, Barack Obama has released the following proclamation on June 1st.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009
LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.
LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.
Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.
The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.
My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.
These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.
BARACK OBAMA
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Tags: american,
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Gay couples in New Hampshire welcomed the new year with champagne toasts and wedding rings. (Photo By Associated Press: Olin Burkhart, center left, and Carl Burkhart, center right, both of Salem, N.H., wed on steps of New Hampshire's State Capitol Jan. 1, 2010 as the historic Marriage Equality law takes effect in Concord, N.H)
A gay marriage law approved by lawmakers takes effect on January 1. Gay couples who want to be among the first to marry in the state will be making their wedding vows along with their new year resolutions.
New Hampshire officials began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on October 3. As of last Wednesday, 29 lesbian and 11 gay couples had secured marriage licenses, which expire after 90 days.
ay advocates in the Granite State ushered in the new year with weddings at the state Capitol on Friday, when New Hampshire's same-sex marriage law took effect.
The Freedom to Marry Coalition and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation led celebrations in Concord on New Year's Eve, counting down the minutes until the state performed its first gay marriages just after midnight.
New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch signed a same-sex marriage bill into law early June despite his opposition to gay marriages and only after state lawmakers had complied with his requirement to include provisions in the legislation protecting religious institutions. The state Senate had voted 14-10 and the state House 198-176 to pass the measure.
Lawmakers had negotiated to include an amendment exempting religious institutions from participating in marriage-related activities that are against their beliefs.
Several times the bill was in danger of being completely rejected. Conservatives including the National Organization for Marriage had also pushed hard for the Legislature not to "deny New Hampshire voters the right to decide th[e] question themselves."
Marriage between gay couples is legal in five states so far. Massachusetts and Connecticut were the first ones to pass legislation, while Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire all enacted similar measures this year. Maine, however, overturned its law in a November referendum.
The District of Columbia earlier this month passed its own bill, which takes effect after a required 30-day review by Congress.
National gay advocacy groups such as the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have also suffered setbacks. Apart from the repeal in the Pine Tree State, proponents in the New Jersey Senate in December put off a final vote on a same-sex measure because of the lack of votes to pass it.
Around the same time In New York, state senators voted to defeat a similar bill despite the full-throated support of Gov. David Paterson.
