The President:
Hello, everybody!
(applause)
Hello, hello, hello!
(applause)
Good to see you.
Hello!
Well, welcome to
the White House.
Let me first of all --
let me acknowledge some
outstanding public
servants who are here.
We've got Secretary of the
Army, Eric Fanning is in the
house.
(applause)
Export-Import Bank
Chairman Fred Hochberg
is here.
(applause)
We've got some
amazing members of Congress
-- no one who has done more
on behalf of justice and
equality than former Speaker
and, perhaps soon to be
Speaker again, Nancy Pelosi.
(applause)
We love Nancy.
So this is the eighth Pride
reception that we will
celebrate together.
(applause)
I want to begin
by saying thank you to all
the people that -- I'm
looking out in the audience;
I see some new friends but
a lot of old friends, folks
who have been with us
through thick and thin.
And I am grateful for all
that you've done to work
with us to accomplish some
amazing transformations over
these last seven
and a half years.
(applause)
So every year, we set aside
this month to celebrate the
ways that so many lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and
transgender Americans have
helped to make our union
just a little more perfect.
We honor the countless
nameless heroes who paved
the way for progress: The
activists who marched.
The advocates who organized.
The lawyers who
argued cases.
The families who stood by
their loved ones, even when
it was tough.
Every brave American who
came out and spoke out,
especially when
it was tough.
Because of them, because of
all of you, there's a lot to
be proud of today.
Today, we live in an America
where "don't ask, don't
tell" don't exist no more.
(applause)
Because no one should
have to hide who they
love in order to serve the
country that they love.
We live in an America that
protects all of us with a
hate crimes law that bears
the name of Matthew Shepard.
(applause)
We live in an
America where all of us are
treated more equally,
because visiting hours in
hospitals no longer depend
on who you are --
(applause)
-- and insurance companies
can no longer turn somebody
away simply because
of who you love.
Thanks to heroes like Edith
Windsor and Jim -- I always
get Jim's name --
(laughter)
-- Jim knows I love him, but
I never know where to put
the emphasis -- Obergefell
-- (applause)
-- generations
of couples who insisted that
love is love, we now live in
an America where all of our
marriages and our families
are recognized as equal
under the law.
And that's an
extraordinary thing.
When you talk to the
upcoming generation, our
kids -- Malia's, Sasha's
generation -- they
instinctively know people
are people and families are
families.
And discrimination,
it's so last century.
(laughter)
It's so passé.
It doesn't make
sense to them.
(applause)
So we live in an
America where the laws are
finally catching up to the
hearts of kids and what they
instinctively understand.
So some folks never imagined
we'd come this far -- maybe
even some in this room.
Change can be slow.
And I know that there have
been times where at least
some of the people in this
room have yelled at me.
(laughter) But together,
we've proven that change is
possible, that
progress is possible.
It's not inevitable, though.
History doesn't just travel
forward; it can go backwards
if we don't work hard.
So we can't be complacent.
(applause)
We cannot be
complacent.
Securing the gains this
country has made requires
perseverance and vigilance.
And it requires voting.
Because we've got
more work to do.
(applause)
We still have more work to
do when gay and bisexual men
make up two-thirds of new
HIV cases in our country.
We have to work hard to make
sure that jobs are not being
denied, people aren't being
fired because of their
sexual orientation.
We still have work to do
when transgender persons are
attacked, even killed for
just being who they are.
We've got work to do when
LGBT people around the world
still face incredible
isolation and poverty and
persecution and violence,
and even death.
We have work to make sure
that every single child, no
matter who they are or where
they come from or what they
look like or how they live,
feels welcomed and valued
and loved.
So we're going to have
to keep on pushing.
And that's the
work of all of us.
The great and often unsung
civil rights hero Bayard
Rustin once said, "We need
in every community a group
of angelic troublemakers."
(Laughter and applause.)
And that's what I see here
tonight -- people who aren't
afraid to ruffle feathers
in the name of justice and
equality until we extend the
full promise of America to
every single one of us.
And that's always been our
story -- not just in Selma
or Seneca Falls, but in
Compton's Café and the
Stonewall Inn.
It's the story of brave
Americans who were willing
to risk everything -- not
just their own liberty or
dignity, but also doing it
on behalf of the dignity and
liberty of
generations to come.
They understood a truth that
lies at the heart of this
nation: When all Americans
are treated equal, we're all
more free.
And that's what
should give us hope.
Despite our differences and
our divisions, and the many
complicated issues that we
grapple with, real change is
possible.
Minds open.
Hearts change.
America shifts.
And if the past few years
have taught us anything,
it's that people who love
their country can change it.
One of the most special
moments of my presidency was
that warm summer night last
June when we lit up the
White House out there.
(applause)
It was a powerful
symbol here at
home, where more Americans
finally felt accepted and
whole, and that their
country recognized the love
that they felt.
It was a beacon for people
around the world who are
still fighting
for those rights.
It was a reminder that when
the change we seek comes,
and when we move a little
bit further on our journey
toward equality and
justice, we still have a
responsibility to reach back
and help pull up others who
are striving to do the same.
So enjoy tonight.
Have some champagne -- some
of you already have, I can
tell.
(laughter)
Tomorrow, we get
back to work.
(applause)
And by the way,
we get back to work not just
fighting on behalf of
justice and equality for the
LGBT community,
but for everybody.
(applause)
Because one of
the -- if you've felt the
sting of discrimination,
then you don't just fight to
end discrimination for
yourself, you've got to
fight for the poor kid
who needs opportunity.
You need to fight for the
working mom who can't pay
the bills.
You've got to fight for some
young woman on the other
side of the world who
can't get an education.
It can't just be about us.
It's about we, and what
we can do together.
(applause)
So I'm very proud to have
fought alongside you.
We've got more miles in the
journey, and I'm so glad
that we're going to be
traveling that road
together.
Thank you very
much, everybody.
(applause)
