[President Obama] When I am President of the United States, gays and Lesbians will have
someone who will fight for equal rights for them, because they are our brothers, and they
are our sisters!
[Jane Lynch Voice Over] IN 2008, OUR COUNTRY ELECTED A LEADER WHO NOT ONLY ACKNOWLEDGED
the LGBT COMMUNITY—BUT WHO EMBRACED IT.
[President Obama] I'm here with you in that fight.
(Applause.)
[Jane Lynch VO] WHO COUNTED US AS FRIENDS
[President Obama] I held some bilateral talks with your leader, Lady Gaga.
She was wearing 16-inch heels.
[Jane Lynch VO] WE ELECTED A MAN WHO UNDERSTOOD OUR STRUGGLES
[President Obama] I was shocked and saddened by the deaths of
several young people who were bullied and taunted for being gay.
[Jane Lynch VO] AND WHO HAS PUSHED THE NATION FORWARD TOWARDS
EQUALITY.
[President Obama] It is important for me to go ahead and affirm
that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.
[President Obama] I don’t think there’s been a, a single
moment in which LGBT issues became important to me.
I think it’s an accumulation of a lifetime of friends and family, people I’ve gotten
to know, who have helped me understand how the fight for LGBT rights is consistent with
that most important part of America’s character, which is to constantly expand opportunity
and fairness to everybody.
We’ve seen a profound cultural shift just in the last decade, partly because folks are
family now.
This isn’t a matter of strangers, these are people we love.
People we care about.
Since I came to Washington, first as a senator and then ultimately as president, meeting
people like Judy Shepard, and not only hearing the heartbreaking tragedy of Matthew but also
the strength and determination she brought to making sure that never happens to young
people anywhere in the country again.
All the men and women in uniform who I’ve had a chance to meet who have served our country
with such devotion, having to hide who they are in order to keep in uniform.
Those stories made me passionate about this issue.
[Jane Lynch VO] THAT PASSION DROVE HIM TO MAKE MORE SIGNIFICANT
ADVANCES FOR LGBT AMERICANS THAN ANY OTHER PRESIDENT WHO CAME BEFORE HIM.
[Newscaster] Gay rights groups are hailing it as a big victory.
President Obama ordered any hospital that gets federal funding to give same sex couples
visitation and consultation rights.
[Newscaster] President Obama getting ready to grant some
benefits to same sex partners of federal employees.
[Newscaster] President Obama will sign a measure making
it a federal crime to assault someone because of sexual orientation or gender identity.
[President Obama] No one in America should ever be afraid to
walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love.
[Judy Wheeler via CNN] This is a triumph for not just members of
the gay community but for us as a civilization.
[Jane Lynch VO] HE APPOINTED MORE OPENLY LGBT PEOPLE TO HIS
ADMINISTRATION AND CONFIRMED MORE LGBT FEDERAL JUDGES THAN ANY PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION.
AND HE KNOCKED DOWN A LONG-STANDING DISCRIMINATORY POLICY WITHIN THE US MILITARY.
[President Obama] One of my proudest moments was when we were
able to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
It was not an easy process.
There were some who doubted whether we’d ever get it done.
[President Obama] “This is done.”
[President Obama] That day that we signed it, that was an emotional
day and to see not just folks who were active in the military, but to see veterans — some
of them from the Vietnam War or the Gulf War — seeing the tears on their faces and understanding
what it meant to them to be acknowledged was one of the most satisfying moments of my presidency.
[President Obama] We are not a nation that says Don’t Ask
Don’t Tell.
We are a nation that says, out of many, we are one.
[Jane Lynch VO] AND WITH THAT FIRM BELIEF, HE BECAME THE FIRST
SITTING PRESIDENT TO SUPPORT MARRIAGE EQUALITY.
[Newscaster] Truly historic and potentially watershed moment
as President Obama comes out formally publicly enthusiastically in support of gay marriage.
[Newscaster] No sitting President has ever done what Barack
Obama did yesterday
[Commentator]: The President of the United States just said he stands fully with gay
and lesbian Americans.
[President Obama] It’s part and parcel of my overall belief
that all the LGBT couples that I meet across the country; their families, their children,
their commitments to each other are as strong and as precious as anybody else’s.
Not only to preserve the gains that we’ve over the last three years, but to make sure
that any discrimination is eliminated, you’re going to need a strong advocate in the White
House.
I am that strong advocate
We’re going to continue to lean forward and making sure that whether it’s the capacity
to adopt, hospital visitation, ending travel bans, making sure that benefits to spouses
or partners are recognized at the federal level; we’re just going to keep on making
sure that the rights of same-sex couples are expanded.
And it’s not just a matter of head.
It’s a matter of heart.
It’s who I am.
It’s what I care about.