WH puts LGBTQ+ families first in largest Pride celebration ever
During the festivities, President Biden called on Americans to push back against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination and on Congress to pass federal protections for the community.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
You wouldn’t have known the event was delayed by almost two days — due to the smoke in the northeastern US from the wildfires in Canada — based on the 1,500 LGBTQ+ people and allies that descended upon the South Lawn to take part in the largest pride celebration in White House history.
The festivities occurred during a perilous moment for the LGBTQ+ community as support for same-sex marriage is at an all-time high. Yet over a dozen states have passed more than 50 anti-LGBTQ bills in the first half of 2023 and the conservative movement attempts to mischaracterize America’s history of discrimination toward queer people.
In the House, Republicans this year have passed legislation that allows bans on books that reflect the reality that LGBTQ exist and bans trans girls from playing sports on teams that align with their gender identity. (FWIW, Americans are less supportive than two years ago of transgender athletes being allowed to play on sports teams that match their current gender identity.) And across the Capitol, a senator introduced a bill earlier this year that would reimpose a ban on transgender Americans openly serving in the military.
To be sure, these federal bills won’t pass the Democratic-controlled Senate or be signed into law by President Joe Biden, but a senior White House official told Supercreator, they do contribute to the current mental health crisis LGBTQ+ kids face.
“I think these bills demonstrate how out of touch some politicians are with where the mainstream is at,” the official said. “And when we have a vulnerable group of kids, almost half of whom say that they’ve seriously considered taking their own life because of the discrimination and stigma that they face, I think it’s incumbent upon all of us to be standing up for those kids and pushing policies and laws that will keep them safe and give them the resources that they need to thrive.”
The White House Pride celebration focused not just on the LGBTQ+ youth impacted by anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination but how these laws
President Biden was introduced by Scarlet Harvey, a health and fitness coach from Texas, who traveled to the White House with her wife Krystle, and two of their three kids — Josselin, Liam, and Krystopher.
“As you can imagine, being out in Texas can be especially tough,” Scarlet said. “In many areas of Texas, we don’t see families like ours, and many times we get looks and whispers behind our backs. But we don’t let it discourage us from being us. We don’t let negativity and ignorance win.”
President Biden called on Americans to push back against anti-LGBTQ+ laws that target transgender children, force families to relocate to a different state to protect their child, and criminalize doctors and nurses for providing gender-affirming care.
“I recognize, for a lot of folks across this country, maybe it’s not you, your kid, your family member going through whatever our transgender child and family is going through,” Biden said. “But I think we all agree, if it were you, you’d want the space to figure it out with your family and your doctor — not being told by anybody.”
Prior to the event, the White House announced a series of new actions aimed at protecting the community.
The initiatives include the launch of a new LGBTQ+ community safety partnership by the Department of Homeland Security to work hand-in-hand with community organizations to provide them with dedicated safety training and resources to respond to bomb threats, active shooters, and cyber security attacks. The partnership, which the Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services will also support, will also step up the federal government’s efforts to protect health care providers and expand its work to respond to community-specific issues and challenges.
HHS also announced it will issue a behavioral health care advisory on transgender and gender-diverse views to help mental health providers give trans youth the best evidence-based care. This includes new funding to help local communities build resources to help families affirm and support LBGTQ+ kids.
LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately experience homelessness due to family rejection, physical assaults, and sexual exploitation in shelters and on the streets. Last week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a new federal initiative to address this crisis, including new resources, training, and support for local communities. Additionally, HHS announced new regulations to protect LGBTQ+ kids in foster care and ensure they have access to safe and appropriate placements.
The Education Department announced it will appoint a new coordinator in its Office of Civil Rights to respond to the spike in book bans that strip books about LGBTQ+ communities, communities of color, and other communities off of library and classroom shelves. The book-ban coordinator will offer training and resources to schools to help them understand that students have a right to learn free from discrimination and that book bans may violate federal civil rights laws if they create a hostile a hostile environment for students.
As Black people noticed during Black History Month, LGBTQ+ people have recognized a downtick in public displays of solidarity by big corporations during Pride Month. This coincides with calls from conservatives to boycott brands like Bud Light, Chick-fil-A, and Target for promoting inclusivity.
A senior administration official said the DHS initiative also includes support for small businesses like restaurants and bars that have been targeted because they’re run by LGBTQ+ Americans because they host events that support that community.
“We’ll be encouraging and reaching out directly to organizations that have been impacted by these violent threats to help make sure that they have the training and the resources they need to stay safe,” the official said.
The White House acknowledged that it is limited in its recourse to counter many of the statewide anti-LGBTQ+ laws.
But a senior administration said told reporters last week that the federal government has to do all that it can to stand up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans. This includes advancing policies and programs that are offered by the federal government to try to address the long-standing forms of discrimination and denial of opportunity that the community faces.
“This is both about standing up for civil rights when they’re violated and making sure that we have a proactive ambitious federal agenda here to provide the resources and supports that the community needs,” the official said.
Once the parades end and the pride flags come down in a few weeks, the administration will continue lobbying Congress to pass the EQUALITY Act, which would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The House passed the House last Congress but stalled in the Senate. It hasn’t been reintroduced in the current Congress and faces stiff odds in the Republican-led House and the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
For now, members are taking several bites at the apple to create the change they want to see for our most vulnerable: at-risk LBGTQ+ youth.
Democratic Rep. Eric Sorensen of Illinois last week along with Reps. Ritchie Torres of New York and Sharice Davids of Kansas introduced a bill that would develop mental health resources, training for caregivers, and school bullying prevention guidelines. The bill would also commission a report on the mental health and mental health care of LGBTQ+ youth in foster care and other federal social services programs.
“There is a mental health crisis among LGBTQI+ youth across the United States and we need to do a better job supporting this vulnerable community,” Sorensen, the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois, said in a statement. “I am proud to help introduce The Pride in Mental Health Act, which ensures that LGBTQI+ youth get the mental health care and resources they need so we can save lives.”
For more:“For my transgender daughter, there are only 18 States of America” by Carolyn Hays
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! It’s Monday, June 12, 2023. You’re reading Supercreator Daily, your morning guide to the politicians, power brokers, and policies shaping the American creator experience.
TODAY IN POLITICS
All times Eastern
10 a.m. President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing.
11:30 a.m. The president will host College Athlete Day to celebrate women’s and men’s NCAA champion teams from 2022-2023. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend.
2 p.m. First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will speak at the Women Veterans Recognition Day event in New York City celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act and pay tribute to the three million women who have served the nation. The House is also in with first and last votes expected at 6:30 p.m.
3 p.m. The Senate is in and will vote to advance the nomination of Elizabeth Allen to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy at 5:30 p.m.
3:15 p.m. President Biden will hold a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to discuss the upcoming NATO Summit.
6 p.m. Dr. Biden will speak at a fundraiser in NYC. President Biden will speak at the Chiefs of Mission reception.
Vice President Kamala Harris is in Washington, DC and has no public events on her schedule.
Biden’s week ahead:
Tuesday: The president will host a Juneteenth celebration on the South Lawn. Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Emhoff will attend.
Wednesday: Biden will speak at the League of Conservation Voters annual dinner.
Thursday: The president will speak about junk fees.
Friday: The president will travel to Connecticut to speak at the National Safer Communities Summit and participate in a fundraiser.
Saturday: Biden will travel to Philadelphia to speak at a rally with union workers before traveling to Delaware for the weekend.
THEY DID THAT
Most Republicans blamed the Justice Department, not Donald Trump, for the federal 37-count indictment a Florida grand jury handed down last week. ICYMI: The former president is accused of mishandling classified documents, refusing to return them to the US government, and obstructing an investigation into the documents he had.
Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois introduced legislation to prevent the debt limit from being weaponized in the future. The proposed bill would authorize the Treasury Department to keep paying the nation’s bills unless Congress passed a disapproval resolution and give lawmakers the option to stop payments if the House and Senate passed a veto-proof disapproval resolution within 30 days.
Boyle and other state and federal elected officials spent Sunday responding to the collapse of an elevated section of 1-95 in Northeast Philadelphia caused by a truck fire. The highway remains closed in both directions and repairs are expected to take months to complete.
President Biden marked Equal Pay Day on Saturday by calling on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would increase pay transparency for workers, strengthen protections to fight discrimination, and advance equity for women and people of color.
Democratic Mayor Eric Adams of New York City rolled back a $24-an-hour minimum pay rate in favor of a $19.96 rate that workers, advocates, and elected officials say is a result of the mayor bending to will of big corporations. The more than 65.000 delivery workers in NYC currently earn $11.12 per hour, according to estimates.
Four siblings — aged 13, 9, 4, and 1 — were rescued in Colombia on Friday after surviving 40 days in the jungle following a plane crash that claimed the lives of the remaining passengers, including the kids’ mother, in early May.
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