President Obama:
I was going to say welcome to
the White House -- but you guys
seem like you feel
right at home.
(laughter)
You don't need me to tell you
-- it's the people's house.
A couple of acknowledgements
that I want to make very quickly
-- first of all, our Director
of the Office of Personnel
Management, who has just done
an extraordinary job across the
government -- give John Berry
a big round of applause.
(applause)
Audience Member:
All right, John!
President Obama:
All right, John!
(laughter)
Our chair of the
Export/Import Bank,
helping to bring jobs here to
the United States of America
-- Fred Hochberg.
(applause)
Our chair of the Council
on Environmental Quality,
doing outstanding work each
and every day -- Nancy Sutley.
Where is she?
(applause)
Nancy is a little
vertically challenged,
but I see her over there.
(laughter)
We've got here a trailblazer for
federal appointees -- we are so
proud of her -- Ms. Roberta
Achtenberg is here.
Give Roberta a big
round of applause.
(applause)
And then I understand we've got
a terrific country singer --
Chely Wright is in the house.
(applause)
In addition -- I know they had
to leave because they had votes,
but you guys obviously don't
have just fiercer warriors on
your behalf than a couple of our
openly gay and lesbian members
of Congress -- Tammy
Baldwin and Jared Polis.
(applause)
They are openly terrific.
(laughter)
They do great work.
And it is also great to have so
many activists and organizers
from around the country -- folks
who fight every day for the
rights of parents and children
and partners and citizens to be
treated equally under the law.
And so we are very
proud of all of you.
(applause)
Oh, and by the way, the
guy standing next to me
-- this is Joe Biden.
(applause)
Just because he's a Phillies
fan -- he's from Delaware.
(laughter)
Now, look, the fact that we've
got activists here is important
because it's a reminder
that change never comes
-- or at least never
begins in Washington.
It begins with acts of
compassion -- and sometimes
defiance -- across America.
It begins when ordinary people
-- out of love for a mother or
a father, son or daughter, or
husband or wife -- speak out
against injustices that have
been accepted for too long.
And it begins when these
impositions of conscience
start opening hearts
that had been closed,
and when we finally see
each other's humanity,
whatever our differences.
Now, this struggle is as
old as America itself.
It's never been easy.
But standing here, I am hopeful.
One year ago, in this room, we
marked the 40th anniversary of
the Stonewall protests.
(applause)
Some of you were here, and you
may remember that I pledged then
that even at a time when we
faced enormous challenges both
on the economy and in
our foreign policy,
that we would not put aside
matters of basic equality.
And we haven't.
We've got a lot of hard work
that we still have to do,
but we can already point to
extraordinary progress that
we've made over the past year on
behalf of Americans who are gay
and lesbian, bisexual
and transgender.
Just stay with me
here for a second.
Last year, I met with Judy
Shepard, Matthew Shepard's mom,
and I promised her that after
a decade's-long struggle,
we would pass inclusive
hate crimes legislation.
I promised that in the name of
her son we would ensure that the
full might of the law is brought
down on those who would attack
somebody just
because they are gay.
And less than six months
later, with Judy by my side,
we marked the enactment of
the Matthew Shepard Act.
It's now the law of the land.
(applause)
Just a few moments ago, I
met with Janice Langbehn
and her children.
Where did Janice go?
There they are right there.
And when Janice's partner
of 18 years, Lisa,
suddenly collapsed
because of an aneurysm,
Janice and the couple's three
kids were denied the chance
to comfort their partner
and their mom -- barred
from Lisa's bedside.
It was wrong.
It was cruel.
And in part because
of their story,
I instructed my Secretary of
Health and Human Services,
Kathleen Sebelius,
to make sure that any
hospital that's participating
in Medicare or Medicaid --
that means most hospitals --
(laughter)
-- allow gay and lesbian
partners the same privileges
and visitation rights
as straight partners.
(applause)
After I issued that memorandum,
I called Janice and I told
her the news.
And before we came
out here today,
I wanted to make sure that I
had followed up -- Secretary
Sebelius will officially be
proposing this regulation.
And I can also announce that
the Secretary has sent a letter
today asking these hospitals to
adopt these changes now -- even
before the rule takes effect.
(applause)
Nothing can undo the hurt
that her -- that Janice's
family has experienced.
And nothing can undo the pain
felt by countless others who've
been through a similar
ordeal -- for example,
Charlene Strong is here.
She lost her wife, Kate Fleming
-- and Charlene is here along
with Kate's mom, who said
on behalf of all mothers,
thank you.
Because we think it's
the right thing to do.
(applause)
In addition, I've issued an
executive order to extend
as many partnership benefits
to gay and lesbian federal
employees as possible
under current law.
And I'm going to continue to
fight to change the law: to
guarantee gay federal employees
the exact same benefits as
straight employees -- including
access to health insurance and
retirement plans.
(applause)
And in an announcement today,
the Department of Labor made
clear that under the Family
and Medical Leave Act,
same-sex couples -- as well as
others raising children --
are to be treated like the
caretakers that they are.
(applause)
Because I believe in committed
-- I believe that committed gay
and lesbian couples deserve the
same rights and responsibilities
afforded to any married
couple in this country,
I have called for Congress to
repeal the so-called Defense
of Marriage Act.
(applause)
We are pushing hard to
pass an inclusive employee
non-discrimination bill.
(applause)
No one in America should be
fired because they're gay.
It's not right, it's not
who we are as Americans,
and we are going to
put a stop to it.
And finally, we're going to
end "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".
(applause)
That is a promise I
made as a candidate.
It is a promise that I
reiterated as President.
It's one that this
administration is going to keep.
Now, the only way to lock this
in -- the only way to get the
votes in Congress to roll back
this policy -- is if we work
with the Pentagon, who are
in the midst of two wars.
And that's why we were gratified
to see, for the first time ever,
the Secretary of
Defense, Bob Gates,
testify in favor of repeal.
And the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen,
has repeatedly and passionately
argued for allowing gay men and
women to serve honestly
in the military.
(applause)
We know that forcing gay and
lesbian soldiers to live a lie
or to leave the military, that
doesn't contribute to our
security -- it
harms our security.
And thanks to Patrick
Murphy and others,
for the first time in history,
the House has passed a repeal
that would allow gay men
and women to openly serve
in our armed forces.
And this repeal is authored so
that the Pentagon can complete
its review of the policy --
which is critical, by the way,
not only to passage, but it's
also critical to making sure
that the change is accepted
and implemented effectively.
In the Senate, the Armed
Services Committee has approved
repeal for the first time,
and the full body is poised
to vote soon.
So here's the bottom line: We
have never been closer to ending
this discriminatory policy.
And I'm going to keep on
fighting until that bill
is on my desk and I can sign it.
(applause)
Of course, ultimately, change
is about more than just policies
in our government.
And that's why I want to close
by recognizing all the young
people who are here -- I had
a chance to take a bunch of
pictures with them, just really
impressive folks who are
advocating on their behalf.
I know there are some in the
audience who have experienced
pain in their lives, who at
times have been -- felt like
outcasts, who have been
scorned or bullied,
and I know that there are
families here on behalf of loved
ones who are no longer with us,
some in part because of the
particularly difficult
challenges that gay men
and women still face.
This is a reminder that we all
have an obligation to ensure
that no young person is
ever made to feel worthless
or alone -- ever.
Now, at the same time, I think
there's plenty of reason to have
some hope for many of the
young people including those
who are here today.
They've shown incredible courage
and incredible integrity --
standing up for who they are.
They've refused to be anything
less than themselves.
And we all remember
being young -- sort of.
(laughter)
But it's not easy.
It's not easy standing up all
the time and being who you are.
But they're showing
us the way forward.
These young people are helping
to build a more perfect union,
a nation where all
of us are equal;
each of us is free to pursue
our own versions of happiness.
And I believe because of them
that the future is bright.
It's certainly bright for them.
Of course, it does
depend on all of us.
It depends on the efforts of
government and the activism
of ordinary citizens
like yourselves.
It depends on the love
of families and the
support of communities.
And I want you all to know
that as this work continues,
I'm going to be standing
shoulder-to-shoulder with you,
fighting by your side
every step of the way.
(applause)
So, thank you. God bless you.
God bless the United
States of America.
(applause)
