At Pride Event, Biden Vows to Protect Rights of L.G.B.T.Q. Americans
Standing on a stage decorated with rainbows and speaking to a crowd that included survivors of gay nightclub shootings and transgender rights advocates, President Biden on Saturday said his administration would work to counter a recent series of Republican-led bills and laws targeting the L.G.B.T.Q.
community. “We’re taking on these civil rights violations,” Mr. Biden said at a Pride Month event held at the White House on Saturday afternoon, “because that’s what they are.” At the Pride event — which had been postponed earlier in the week because of smoke from the wildfires in Canada — the president said that his administration had taken steps to protect the civil rights of L.G.B.T.Q.
Americans, including appointing an official within the Department of Education who will monitor and address the growing number of local bans on books with references to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
Neera Tanden, the White House domestic policy adviser, told CBS News that the official would provide guidance to school districts and warn them that book bans “may violate federal civil laws if they create a hostile environment for students.” According to a fact sheet released by the Biden administration, the Justice Department and other agencies will also designate officials to work with members of the L.G.B.T.Q.
