Kicking Off LGBT Pride Month
Yesterday was the kick-off of LGBT Pride Month, chock full of events like parades, festivals, picnics, and performances. Pride Month is a time to celebrate the LGBT community, but also to redouble our efforts toward achieving political and legal equality and to open a dialogue with allies.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) repeal advocate and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) commemorated LGBT Pride Month in a press release yesterday, highlighting the passage of legislation to repeal DADT as an important milestone for overturning a law that “both weakened our Armed Forces and wrongly enshrined discrimination in our military.”
President Obama marked DADT repeal as a major accomplishment for his administration as well. SLDN agrees with the President that “Every generation of Americans has brought our Nation closer to fulfilling its promise of equality. While progress has taken time, our achievements in advancing the rights of LGBT Americans remind us that history is on our side, and that the American people will never stop striving toward liberty and justice for all.”
However, as we wrote in response to the President yesterday, nearly six months have passed since DADT repeal legislation was signed, and certification has not yet been achieved. Every day that this job remains unfinished is another day that bisexual, lesbian, and gay service members must serve and sacrifice in silence.
SLDN will be hitting the road all over the U.S. this month, covering 26 Pride events in June alone. From Idaho to Missouri, from Hawaii to Washington, D.C., we will honor service members, educate the public about what happens after DADT repeal, and spread the word about SLDN’s free legal services. We value this month in particular as an opportunity to connect with supporters personally, to learn their stories and engage everyone in the unfinished fight for equality.
Click here to view the list of Pride events where we will be throughout the nation. You can find the events closest to you and sign up to volunteer with your friends and family! We’ll look forward to seeing you, and we thank you for staying with us in the fight.
06-02-11 By Elizabeth Shirey, Grassroots/Policy Advocate |
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