The President designated Pulse Gay Nightclub (the site of the 2016 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida) as a national monument.

US President Joe Biden celebrated Pride Month at the White House on Friday, reflecting the growing status of the LGBTQ community at the highest level of government.

“Pride month represents a lot,” Biden said. “It represents courage. The courage of previous generations and all those who proudly live the truth today. Represents justice. The steps we have taken and the steps we need to take. Most importantly, Pride Month represents love.”

Unlike the predecessor of the Republican Party, Donald Trump, Biden sought to emphasize the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. He announced on June 1 that he officially recognized Pride Month and nominated LGBTQ officials as the United States. The highest position in the government, which includes other actions.

“Our attendance this afternoon issued a very strong statement: Pride is back to the White House,” Biden was accepting Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and a young transgender Ashton Motta. (Ashton Mota) said after the introduction.

Buttigieg said: “Even here we have proved how much change is possible in the United States.”

“The continuous advocacy, moral determination and political courage of countless LGBTQ+ leaders and allies have saved so many lives. Some of them were elected, some were invisible, some have long since disappeared, and some are now in this room.”

The corridors of the White House light up the colors of the rainbow flag, which is a symbol of the LGBTQ movement. Biden said that he walks between his residence and the oval office every day. Also on display are a candle carried during the AIDS vigil and a pair of sandals owned by Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was fatally beaten in 1998 and his death triggered a new hate crime law.

Also on Friday, Biden appointed Jessica Stern as the State Department’s special envoy for LGBTQ rights. Her responsibilities will include ensuring that U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid promote and protect LGBTQ rights worldwide. Stern is currently the executive director of OutRight Action International, an organization that defends human rights and works to prevent abuse of LGBTQ people.

According to the White House, in her new role, Stern will help develop a presidential memorandum to promote the rights of LGBTQ people and bring together like-minded governments, non-profit organizations, and companies to safeguard equality and dignity.

People attend a ceremony to commemorate LGBTQ+ Pride Month in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

This focus has also aroused the personal resonance of many people in the Biden administration. The White House’s Chief Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (Karine Jean-Pierre) tweeted her own story on Friday, telling her that she came out to her mother when she was 16 and her rebellious expression made her His sexual orientation has been a family secret for many years.

“I am proud to be a black queer woman, and I have been for a while,” she wrote. “I am happy to say that my mother is now proud of who I am; she loves my partner and loves to be our doting grandmother raising our daughter.”

Jean-Pierre added that her acceptance was not easy, but it was worth it.

U.S. President Joe Biden designates the National Pulse Memorial as law [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

Biden also signed a bill on Friday to designate the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida as a national monument. Killed in a mass shooting in a gay nightclub in June 2016 49 injured 53.

“We will never fully recover, but we will remember,” Biden said when signing legislation to establish the Florida National Pulse Memorial, which was also joined by shooting survivors and legislators involved in this measure.

“Maybe… no president needs to sign on such a monument.”

A gunman rushed into this popular venue and fired with a gun AR-15 assault rifle And pistol in one of the deadliest modern times Mass shooting In the U.S.