Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Barack Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
Karine Jean-Pierre Reflects on Historic Marriage Act Signing
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took a moment during Tuesday’s White House Press Briefing to reflect upon the historic nature of the day.Speaking from the Brady Briefing Room podium, Jean-Pierre celebrated that President Joe Biden would be signing the Respect for Marriage Act, which codifies same-sex marriage and interracial marriages in federal law, before an assembled crowd on the South Lawn later in the afternoon.The Biden-Harris Administration has put LGBTQ+ people at the forefront.
For example, Biden nominated the first out gay cabinet secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and the first Senate-confirmed transgender person, Admiral Rachel Levine.
In addition, Jean-Pierre is the first out gay Black woman to hold the job of chief spokesperson for the President of the United States.“This is a big day for me, but not just me,” Jean-Pierre said, responding to a question about what the day’s significance means to her.“There are many colleagues that I work with here who are allies, who are also part of the community, who are incredibly proud.
We’re going to see about two to three thousand people out on the South Lawn — activists who have worked on this issue for decades.”Jean-Pierre said she had just come from being with Biden, who was going over his remarks for the ceremony.“The thing that I remember was ten years ago...when he was on Meet the Press, and he said something that really no other national elected official was saying at the time,” she continued.In 2012, during an appearance on the long-running NBC political show, then-Vice President Biden came out in favor of marriage equality, even before former president Barack Obama did.“Things are changing so rapidly, it’s going to become a political liability in the.
