Biden issues proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month

President Biden on Tuesday issued a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month and underscoring the need to keep fighting to ensure equal rights for members of the LGBTQ community.

“Pride is both a jubilant communal celebration of visibility and a personal celebration of self-worth and dignity. This Pride Month, we recognize the valuable contributions of LGBTQ+ individuals across America, and we reaffirm our commitment to standing in solidarity with LGBTQ+ Americans in their ongoing struggle against discrimination and injustice,” Biden said in the proclamation.

Biden’s recognition of Pride Month is notable given former President Trump did not take note of the annual celebration of the LGBT community last year. Instead, the Trump administration faced intense criticism for rolling back protections that prevented discrimination in health care based on one’s gender identity. Biden has since restored those protections.

Biden has elevated officials who are LGBT to various posts in his administration. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay Cabinet secretary to be confirmed by the Senate, and Rachel Levine, an assistant secretary in the department of Health and Human Services, became the first openly transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate.

Still, Biden acknowledged the high rate of violence against people who are transgender and the wave of “discriminatory” laws passed at the state level that restrict access to medical care for young people who are transgender, as well as those that have limited how young transgender athletes can compete.

“While I am proud of the progress my Administration has made in advancing protections for the LGBTQ+ community, I will not rest until full equality for LGBTQ+ Americans is finally achieved and codified into law,” Biden said, calling for passage of the Equality Act and for improvements to elder care for older members of the LGBTQ community.

Biden took a handful of executive actions early in his presidency intended to bolster protections from the LGBTQ community. The president reversed a Trump administration ban on transgender people serving in the military, as well as a rule from the previous administration that had denied transgender people access to shelters for people of their gender identity.