Obama Praises LGBTQ Community For Proving ‘Protests And Politics Go Hand In Hand’

Former President Barack Obama is set to join Cynthia Erivo, Taylor Swift and other luminaries this week in a virtual celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month. 

Pride Live released a teaser video for its third annual Stonewall Day program featuring a portion of Obama’s taped remarks. In it, the former president draws a line from the 1969 Stonewall uprising, seen as the symbolic start of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, to last week’s Supreme Court ruling protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in the workplace. 

“We’re almost 51 years since the night when the patrons at the Stonewall Inn stood up for their rights and set off one of America’s defining victories for civil rights,” he says in the clip, viewable below. “All that progress is worth celebrating and reflecting on.”

“The struggle and triumph for LGBTQ rights shows how protests and politics go hand in hand, how we’ve got to both shine a light on injustice and translate those aspirations into specific laws and institutional practices,” he adds. 

Pride Live launched Stonewall Day two years ago in commemoration of the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising in New York City’s Greenwich Village. This year’s event also marks the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

In addition to Erivo, Obama and Swift, the starry program will be hosted by transgender model Geena Rocero and feature appearances by Chelsea Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres and George Takei, among others. 

Still, organizers are conscious of the fact that this year’s event comes amid a less-than-celebratory Pride Month given the COVID-19 crisis and the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial inequality. 

“COVID-19, and the recent events that have placed a national and global spotlight on the need for fair and equal treatment for all people, has impacted so many around the world and the LGBTQ+ community has not been immune,” Dr. Yvette C. Burton, the president of the Pride Live board of directors, said in a statement. “Our hopes are Stonewall Day can assist our beneficiaries in continuing their work and service to the community.” 

The full Stonewall Day program will be streamed live on Logo’s Facebook and YouTube on Friday. Organizers say proceeds from the livestream will benefit LGBTQ organizations most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.