[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 108 (Monday, June 7, 2010)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 32079-32080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-13672]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 108 / Monday, June 7, 2010 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 32079]]


                Proclamation 8529 of May 28, 2010

                
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride 
                Month, 2010

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                As Americans, it is our birthright that all people are 
                created equal and deserve the same rights, privileges, 
                and opportunities. Since our earliest days of 
                independence, our Nation has striven to fulfill that 
                promise. An important chapter in our great, unfinished 
                story is the movement for fairness and equality on 
                behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
                (LGBT) community. This month, as we recognize the 
                immeasurable contributions of LGBT Americans, we renew 
                our commitment to the struggle for equal rights for 
                LGBT Americans and to ending prejudice and injustice 
                wherever it exists.

                LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the 
                fabric of our national life. From business leaders and 
                professors to athletes and first responders, LGBT 
                individuals have achieved success and prominence in 
                every discipline. They are our mothers and fathers, our 
                sons and daughters, and our friends and neighbors. 
                Across my Administration, openly LGBT employees are 
                serving at every level. Thanks to those who came before 
                us--the brave men and women who marched, stood up to 
                injustice, and brought change through acts of 
                compassion or defiance--we have made enormous progress 
                and continue to strive for a more perfect union.

                My Administration has advanced our journey by signing 
                into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate 
                Crimes Prevention Act, which strengthens Federal 
                protections against crimes based on gender identity or 
                sexual orientation. We renewed the Ryan White CARE Act, 
                which provides life-saving medical services and support 
                to Americans living with HIV/AIDS, and finally 
                eliminated the HIV entry ban. I also signed a 
                Presidential Memorandum directing hospitals receiving 
                Medicare and Medicaid funds to give LGBT patients the 
                compassion and security they deserve in their time of 
                need, including the ability to choose someone other 
                than an immediate family member to visit them and make 
                medical decisions.

                In other areas, the Department of Housing and Urban 
                Development (HUD) announced a series of proposals to 
                ensure core housing programs are open to everyone, 
                regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. 
                HUD also announced the first-ever national study of 
                discrimination against members of the LGBT community in 
                the rental and sale of housing. Additionally, the 
                Department of Health and Human Services has created a 
                National Resource Center for LGBT Elders.

                Much work remains to fulfill our Nation's promise of 
                equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why 
                we must give committed gay couples the same rights and 
                responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and 
                repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the 
                rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption 
                rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT 
                Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal 
                benefits. We must create safer schools so all our 
                children may learn in a supportive environment. I am 
                also committed to ending ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' so 
                patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our 
                military, and I am working with the Congress and our 
                military leadership to accomplish that goal.

[[Page 32080]]

                As we honor the LGBT Americans who have given so much 
                to our Nation, let us remember that if one of us is 
                unable to realize full equality, we all fall short of 
                our founding principles. Our Nation draws its strength 
                from our diversity, with each of us contributing to the 
                greater whole. By affirming these rights and values, 
                each American benefits from the further advancement of 
                liberty and justice for all.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by virtue of the authority 
                vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the 
                United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, 
                Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon 
                all Americans to observe this month by fighting 
                prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and 
                everywhere it exists.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2010-13672
Filed 6-4-10; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-W0-P