White House celebrates LGBT Pride month

(From the White House Press Room)

President Obama walked into the East Room at 5:20 p.m. (ET) to applause. He spoke for 12 minutes. He opened his remarks with "I will not beat that act," after getting introduced by 9 year old twins Zea and Luna.

He praised the courage of people who came out as being LGBT, and those who supported them. From the Senate to the NBA, Mr. Obama said, "We're reaching a turning point." He said the US has become more loving as a country.

Then he ticked off a host of policy changes, including ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell, that benefited the LGBT community.

President Obama vowed to keep protecting LGBT and other rights.

He is marking Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month by calling on Congress to pass legislation banning workplace discrimination against gays and lesbians.

He says such bias is wrong and must be changed.

Obama says legislation pending in Congress would ban such discrimination "now and forever." Said Obama, "We need to get that passed.

He also talked about guns.

"I'm not giving up the fight to protect our kids from gun violence," he vowed. But, he added, "Sometimes these things take time."

Invited guests included Administration officials, elected officials, and LGBT grassroots and community leaders from around the country.  The President was introduced by Zea and Luna, nine year old twin sisters and third graders from California who wrote letters to the President about the need for gun safety, funding for education, and marriage equality for their “two great moms.”  Their mothers were married in San Francisco in 2004.

Some notable attendees on the invitation list included:

•                    Eric Fanning, Under Secretary of the Air Force

•                    Fred Hochberg, Chairman of the Export-Import Bank

•                    Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

•                    Elaine Kaplan, Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management

•                    Michael Botticelli, Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy

•                    Senator Chris Coons

•                    Representative David Cicilline

•                    Representative Yvette Clarke

•                    Representative John Conyers

•                    Representative Joseph Crowley

•                    Representative Keith Ellison

•                    Representative Mike Honda

•                    Representative John Lewis

•                    Representative Sean Patrick Maloney

•                    Representative Jerrold Nadler

•                    Representative Mark Pocan

•                    Representative Jan Schakowsky

•                    Representative Krysten Sinema

•                    Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz

•                    Representative Peter Welch

•                    Air Force Major General Patricia Rose and her wife, Julie Roth

•                    Jane and Joseph Clementi, parents of the late Tyler Clementi

•                    Rev. Gary Hall, Dean of the Washington National Cathedral

•                    Rev. Dr. R. Guy Erwin, Bishop-elect, ELCA Southwest California Synod

•                    Stuart Milk, nephew of the late Harvey Milk and founder of the Milk Foundation

•                    Richard Blanco