Story at a glance
- President Biden on Tuesday officially declared June to be LGBTQ+ Pride Month and condemned recent state legislative attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans in a presidential proclamation.
- Biden again told transgender youth that he “will always have your back,” which transgender advocates have said is doing the “bare minimum.”
- But the Biden administration has taken steps to advance LGBTQ+ equality in the U.S., including by issuing gender-neutral passports and calling on the government to combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
President Biden has declared June to be LGBTQ+ Pride Month, calling on the American people to “recognize the achievements of the LGBTQI+ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high.”
In a presidential proclamation issued Tuesday on the eve of Pride Month, Biden honored the resilience of LGBTQ+ people across the nation, whose rights, he said, have been under relentless attack.
“Members of the LGBTQI+ community — especially people of color and trans people — continue to face discrimination and cruel, persistent efforts to undermine their human rights,” the president said, referring to the onslaught of legislation targeting LGBTQ+ people in state legislatures across the country.
