Over the last two years, President Obama has become one of the biggest public supporters of LGBT rights and representation. Last night, Obama made history for the LGBT community, once again, when he became the first president to directly recognize the LGBT community at a State of the Union Address.
During his address, Obama pushed for greater social and legal protections for the LGBT community.
“As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained,” said Obama, adding, “That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they’re right, but because they make us safer.”
President Obama also addressed the ever-growing topic of same-sex marriage and deemed it a “civil right.”
“I’ve seen something like gay marriage go from a wedge issue used to drive us apart to a story of freedom across our country, a civil right now legal in states that seven in 10 Americans call home,” said Obama, who first announced his support for same-sex marriage in 2012.
Once again, we applaud President Obama for being such a strong ally and supporter to the LGBT community, and we hope that his efforts to provide more protections to them continue even beyond his term as president.
