The President: This is rowdy crowd.
(applause)
I don't want you guys to
break anything while you're
here now.
(laughter)
Thank you, Megan, for the
wonderful introduction and,
more importantly, the great
work that you are doing.
We've got some outstanding
members of Congress here
today, including
Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Give Nancy a big
round of applause.
(applause)
I want to thank all of you
-- advocates, organizers,
friends, families --
for being here today.
Over the years, we've
gathered to celebrate Pride
Month, and I've told you
that I'm so hopeful about
what we can accomplish.
I've told you that the civil
rights of LGBT Americans is --
Audience Member:
President Obama!
The President: Yes,
hold on a second.
Audience Member:
(inaudible), President Obama!
The President: Okay, you
know what -- no, no, no, no,
no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no.
Audience Member:
President Obama --
The President: Hey --
Audience Member: (inaudible)
The President: Listen,
you're in my house.
(laughter and applause)
You don't -- come on.
It's not -- you know what,
it's not respectful when you
get invited to somebody --
Audience Member: President
Obama (inaudible).
The President: You're not
going to -- you're not going
to get a good response from
me by interrupting me like this.
Audience Member:
President Obama --
The President: I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Audience: Booo --
The President:
No, no, no, no.
No, no. No.
Shame on you.
You shouldn't be doing this.
Audience: Obama!
Obama!
Obama!
The President: Can we
escort this person out?
Come on.
You can either stay and be
quiet, or we'll have to take
you out.
All right, can we have this
person removed, please?
The President: Come on.
Audience Member:
President Obama --
The President: Come on.
Come on.
Nope.
No.
Come on.
Come on, guys.
I'm just going to wait
until we get this done.
Audience Member:
(inaudible) deportations!
No more deportations!
The President:
Okay, where was I?
(laughter and applause)
So as a general rule, I
am just fine with a few
hecklers -
(laughter)
-- but not when I'm
up in the house.
(applause)
You know what I mean?
You know, my attitude is
if you're eating the
hors d'oeuvres -
(laughter)
-- you know what I'm saying?
The Vice President: I do.
The President: Okay.
And drinking the booze.
I know that's right.
Anyway, where was I?
Audience Member:
We love you!
The President:
I love you back.
(applause)
So the civil rights of LGBT
Americans, this is an issue
whose time has come.
And we've got a lot to
celebrate because of your
hard work.
And there are people here
who have been working these
issues for decades.
And so this is something
where it's bearing fruit
today, but it has to do with
courage that was happening
in obscurity and
incredible difficulty.
And I am so honored to be a
part of seeing all that hard
work pay off.
A lot of what we've
accomplished over these last
six and a half years has
been because of you.
Because of the groundwork
that you and so many of you
laid before, from
sophisticated national
campaigns to small, quiet
acts of defiance --
together, we've been able
to do more to protect the
rights of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender
Americans than at any
time in our history.
(applause)
Together, we ended
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
(applause)
We passed a historic hate
crimes bill named in part
after Matthew Shepard.
(applause)
We lifted the HIV entry ban,
and this summer, we're going
to be updating our national
HIV/AIDS strategy which will
focus on eliminating
disparities that gay and
bisexual men and
transgender women face.
(applause)
We strengthened the Violence
Against Women Act to protect
LGBT victims.
(applause)
Hospitals that accept
Medicare and Medicaid are
now required to treat
LGBT patients the same as
everybody else.
(applause)
The pillar of the so-called
Defense of Marriage Act was
struck down by the Supreme
Court as unconstitutional.
(applause)
Just yesterday, we announced
that insurance companies
that cover federal workers
will no longer be able to
prohibit gender
transition services.
(applause)
And, of course, we're now
awaiting the Supreme Court's
ruling on whether same-sex
couples nationwide have the
equal right to marry.
(applause)
There are a few decisions
coming down these next
few days -
(laughter)
-- that I'm paying
close attention to.
But however the decision
comes down on the marriage
issue, one thing is
undeniable -- there has been
this incredible shift
in attitudes across the country.
When I became President,
same-sex marriage was legal
in only two states.
Today, it's legal
in 37 states -
(applause)
-- and the District
of Columbia.
A decade ago, politicians
ran against LGBT rights.
Today, they're
running towards them.
(applause)
Because they've learned what
the rest of the country
knows -- that marriage
equality is about our civil
rights, and our firm belief
that every citizen should be
treated equally
under the law.
Now, we all know there's a
lot more that we can and
must do.
In 2015, at a time when we
have laws that say Americans
can't be fired for the color
of their skin or their
religion or if they have a
disability, it is wrong that
hardworking Americans still
live in fear of being fired
simply because of who they
are or who they love.
That's why I've repeatedly
called on Congress to pass
the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act,
which would explicitly
prohibit discrimination
against LGBT workers.
(applause)
And that's why we've got to
keep the pressure on until
they do it.
(applause)
In the meantime, we're doing
what we can to protect workers.
Last year, my administration
prohibited discrimination on
the basis of sexual
orientation and gender
identity by federal
contractors, for
federal employees.
(applause)
And that's protecting an
estimated 1.5 million Americans.
I support efforts to ban
conversion therapy for minors.
It has no basis in science.
(applause)
Every young person -- no
matter who they are or what
they look like or what
gender they identify as --
deserves to be valued and
loved for who they are.
In just the past year,
America has come far in its
acceptance of
transgender Americans.
(applause)
And we've got brave folks
coming out at the highest
levels of business and
government, and in sports
and in Hollywood.
We're seeing television
shows portray transgender
characters and families.
And the power of example is
slowly but surely changing
people's hearts.
But we know that transgender
persons still face terrible
violence and abuse and
poverty here at home and
around the world.
Audience Member: The
transsexuals love you.
(applause)
The President: Well, that's
the kind of heckling I can
always accept.
(applause)
But, seriously, too many
folks are still targeted,
and transgender women of
color are
particularly vulnerable.
(applause)
So that kind of ugliness simply doesn't belong in America.
That's not who we are.
And the truth is that
courage comes in a lot of forms.
There's courage in the
moment of danger -- the kind
our troops show in battle.
There's the courage of
resilience and perseverance
-- what we see in our
brave wounded warriors.
There's moral courage of the
sort we saw in Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Harvey
Milk, who fight for
their ideals.
And then there's the kind of
courage it takes to be true
to yourself even if society
doesn't always accept or
understand you.
And nobody has got a
monopoly on that
kind of courage.
It can come from
all walks of life.
And to a young boy or girl
out there struggling with
their own identity, the
folks in this room are
heroes, have shown
extraordinary courage.
Not only are you helping
others find the strength to
be true to who they are,
you're helping America be
true to who we
are as a nation.
And that's ultimately what
this Pride month is all about.
It's about commemorating the
bravery at Stonewall, when
in the face of hatred
and violence, a group of
Americans decided to stand
up for their rights to be
who they are.
It's about celebrating the
extraordinary progress we've
made in making sure that
LGBT Americans can enjoy
their rights to pursue life,
liberty and happiness.
But it's also about pride
in who we are as a nation.
We are big and
vast and diverse.
We've got different
backgrounds and
different beliefs.
We've got different
experiences and stories.
But we are bound by our
shared ideal that no matter
who you are or what you look
like, where you come from,
who you love -- this is a
place where you should be
able to write your own
ticket, and be who you are,
and revel in your true self.
We're a people who believe
enough in America's promise
to make it real
for everybody.
And those of us who know
freedom and opportunity,
thanks to the toil and blood
of those who came before us,
we have an extra
responsibility to extend
freedom and opportunity to
other people who are still
marginalized and still
facing injustice.
Working families who aren't
getting paid a living wage.
Women who aren't getting
paid equally for their efforts.
(applause)
Immigrants who deserve to
have a pathway to be able to
get right with the law.
(applause)
Anybody who is treated
differently because of the
color of their skin or the
nature of their faith.
Anybody whose right
to vote is threatened.
So there are still battles
to wage, more hearts and
minds to change.
As long as there's a single
child in America that's
afraid they won't be
accepted for who they are,
we've got more work to do.
But if the people in this
room and our friends and
allies across the country
have proven anything, it's
that even in the toughest of
circumstances, against the
greatest possible odds, in
America, change is possible.
It's in our hands.
Together, I know
we'll get there.
Look how far we've
already come.
Thank you.
God bless you.
(applause)
