Photo: Barack Obama. Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
President Barack Obama declared June Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month in a proclamation released by the White House Friday and called on Americans to recommit themselves to finishing the work that remains for achieving full equality.
“As progress spreads from State to State, as justice is delivered in the courtroom, and as more of our fellow Americans are treated with dignity and respect — our Nation becomes not only more accepting, but more equal as well,” Obama stated. “I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.”
Ticking off a number of victories for LGBT-rights, including victories for marriage equality at the Supreme Court last year, Obama noted that LGBT people still are not protected from discrimination in a number of states.
“My Administration proudly stands alongside all those who fight for LGBT rights. Here at home, we have strengthened laws against violence toward LGBT Americans, taken action to prevent bullying and harassment, and prohibited discrimination in housing and hospitals,” Obama stated. “Despite this progress, LGBT workers in too many States can be fired just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; I continue to call on the Congress to correct this injustice by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”
Although Obama reiterated his support for ENDA, he made no mention of a long called for executive order he has refused to sign that would prohibit federal contractors from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Obama reaffirmed his commitment to addressing health disparities within the LGBT community and continuing to address HIV/AIDS. He also noted inequality abroad and issued a call to nations around the globe to join “in defending the universal human rights of our LGBT brothers and sisters.”
“This month, as we mark 45 years since the patrons of the Stonewall Inn defied an unjust policy and awakened a nascent movement, let us honor every brave leader who stood up, sat in, and came out, as well as the allies who supported them along the way,” Obama continued. “Following their example, let each of us speak for tolerance, justice, and dignity — because if hearts and minds continue to change over time, laws will too.”
According to a White House official, on June 30 Obama will continue the tradition of hosting a reception at the White House in celebration of LGBT Pride Month.
A fundamentalist church in Indianapolis is defending a June 29 sermon in which a lay preacher urged congregants to pray for LGBTQ people to die and suggested they kill themselves.
The remarks, delivered by Stephen Falco during a “Men’s Preaching Night” at Sure Foundation Baptist Church, included multiple homophobic slurs, biblical references, and rants against Pride Month, LGBTQ rights, and what he called “disgusting” and “evil” behavior, according to TheIndianapolis Star.
"Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate f****ts? Because they attack children," Falco ranted in the sermon, video of which was posted to Sure Foundation Baptist Church's YouTube channel. "They're coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools, in public places, and they're proud about it!
WorldPride participants share why Pride still matters, what issues drive them, and why visibility remains vital in today’s political climate.
By André Hereford, Ryan Leeds, and John Riley
June 21, 2025
WorldPride DC on Sunday, June 8, 2025 - Photo: Randy Shulman / Metro Weekly
Interviewed on Saturday and Sunday, June 7 and 8, 2025, at the WorldPride Street Festival, Parade, and March for Freedom.
Nic Ashe
Los Angeles, Ca.
Queer, He/Him
Why did you come to WorldPride?
I've been following WorldPride through the lens of Black queerness, namely with a focus on Christianity and religion. Early in my life, when I think about the first times that I was learning that queer may be a pejorative or that being gay was "not good," it was through my church upbringing. So I was very curious to find if there were examples in 2025 of those two oxymoronic opposing forces existing in harmony.
Chris Kostka, a gay man visiting Provincetown, Massachusetts, was walking along Bradford Street between 1 and 2 a.m. on Monday, June 30, when, near Howland Street at the town’s eastern end, three men shoved him to the pavement and began kicking him while yelling anti-gay slurs.
"All of a sudden I just feel myself getting pushed to the ground," Kostka told Boston NBC affiliate WBTS-CD. "I fly forward and I turn. I see three guys, and of course, I'm stunned from just being thrown to the pavement, and I just cover my face, go into a fetal position as I'm getting kicked and getting called some gay slurs."
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