queen_elizabeth

As any good, competent global leader should.

It seems like common sense that national leaders, governmental figureheads, and global influencers should care about all of the people they govern and whose lives their decisions affect. That’s why, during her annual address to Parliament today, Queen Elizabeth II adapted to the times and, for the first time ever, included LGBTQ rights in her outline for the United Kingdom’s policies moving forward.

“My government will make further progress to tackle the gender pay gap and discrimination against people on the basis of their race, faith, gender, disability, or sexual orientation,” the Queen said. Though a single sentence in a lengthy speech, this type of acknowledgement and visibility will only help the LGBTQ community moving forward.

The past has proven how much even a simple nod of recognition can boost the morale of a country’s LGBTQ community. After eight years of Pride Month declarations from Barack Obama, Trump’s silence at the beginning of June was deafening, proving further that he’s exactly the man we all knew he was.

Watch the queen’s speech, below:

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