[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 6, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 36051-36052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14440]



[[Page 36049]]

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Part VII





The President





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Proclamation 7316--Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, 2000
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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 109 / Tuesday, June 6, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 36051]]

                Proclamation 7316 of June 2, 2000

                
Gay and Lesbian Pride Month, 2000

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Gay and lesbian Americans have made important and 
                lasting contributions to our Nation in every field of 
                endeavor. Too often, however, gays and lesbians face 
                prejudice and discrimination; too many have had to hide 
                or deny their sexual orientation in order to keep their 
                jobs or to live safely in their communities.

                In recent years, we have made some progress righting 
                these wrongs. Since the Stonewall uprising in New York 
                City more than 30 years ago, the gay and lesbian rights 
                movement has united gays and lesbians, their families 
                and friends, and all those committed to justice and 
                equality in a crusade to outlaw discriminatory laws and 
                practices and to protect gays and lesbians from 
                prejudice and persecution.

                I am proud of the part that my Administration has 
                played to achieve these goals. Today, more openly gay 
                and lesbian individuals serve in senior posts 
                throughout the Federal Government than during any other 
                Administration. To build on our progress, in 1998 I 
                issued an Executive Order to prohibit discrimination in 
                the Federal civilian workforce based on sexual 
                orientation, and my Administration continues to fight 
                for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would 
                outlaw discrimination in the workplace based on sexual 
                orientation.

                Yet many challenges still lie before us. As we have 
                learned from recent tragedies, prejudice against gays 
                and lesbians can still erupt into acts of hatred and 
                violence. I continue to call upon the Congress to pass 
                meaningful hate crimes legislation to strengthen the 
                Department of Justice's ability to prosecute hate 
                crimes committed due to the victim's sexual 
                orientation.

                With each passing year the American people become more 
                receptive to diversity and more open to those who are 
                different from themselves. Our Nation is at last 
                realizing that gays and lesbians must no longer be 
                ``strangers among friends,'' as the civil rights 
                pioneer David Mixner once noted. Rather, we must 
                finally recognize these Americans for what they are: 
                our colleagues and neighbors, daughters and sons, 
                sisters and brothers, friends and partners.

                This June, recognizing the joys and sorrows that the 
                gay and lesbian movement has witnessed and the work 
                that remains to be done, we observe Gay and Lesbian 
                Pride Month and celebrate the progress we have made in 
                creating a society more inclusive and accepting of gays 
                and lesbians. I hope that in this new millennium we 
                will continue to break down the walls of fear and 
                prejudice and work to build a bridge to understanding 
                and tolerance, until gays and lesbians are afforded the 
                same rights and responsibilities as all Americans.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United 
                States, do hereby proclaim June 2000 as Gay and Lesbian 
                Pride Month. I encourage all Americans to observe this 
                month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and 
                activities that celebrate our diversity and recognize 
                the gay and lesbian Americans whose many and varied 
                contributions have enriched our national life.

[[Page 36052]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                second day of June, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand, and of the Independence of the United States 
                of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 00-14440
Filed 6-5-00; 11:25 am]
Billing code 3195-01-P