At Pittsburgh Pride, Jill Biden warns of the dangers of a second Trump term
The Washington Blade joined First Lady Jill Biden in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Saturday, where she spoke at the Steel City’s Pride festival from a stage in the North Side neighborhood of Allegheny Commons Park West and warned of the dangers presented by former President Donald Trump’s bid to reclaim the White House. “This community is under attack,” Biden said. “Rights are being stripped away.
Freedoms are eroding. More and more state laws are being passed targeting this community.” The first lady noted, “We had to fend off 50 anti gay amendments that Republicans tried to force into the government funding bill,” which constituted “extreme measures aimed directly at this community, measures that would have limited health care and weakened protections for same-sex couples.” “History teaches us that our rights and freedoms don’t disappear overnight,” said Biden, herself a career educator. “They disappear slowly, suddenly, silently.
A book ban, a court decision. A ‘don’t say gay’ law. One group of people loses its rights and then another and then another until one morning you wake up and you no longer live in a democracy. “ Along with his Republican allies, the first lady said, Trump is a bully —”to the LGBTQ community, to our families, to our country,” and, therefore, “we cannot let him win.” “Your President and I will not let you lose the rights that we have gained,” she said. “We’re going to give every single ounce of our being to this election.” As Biden spoke, the crowd erupted into cheers of “four more years!” as others shouted “free Palestine!” Two supporters, Reed Williams and Carol Mullen, connected with the Blade after having their photo taken with Biden before she took the stage. “I just love what the Bidens are doing,” said Mullen, who pointed to the first lady’s “advocacy [when serving as] second lady for eight years” during the Obama-Biden administration, along with “all the work she’s done for veterans.” “She’s just amazing,” Mullen said, adding, “the fact
