President Barack Obama included several
references to LGBT rights during his final State of the Union address
delivered Tuesday night.
Obama's nearly one hour speech touched
on major issues facing the country, including climate change and
defeating violent extremism.
“So, my fellow Americans, whatever
you may believe, whether you prefer one party or no party, our
collective future depends on your willingness to uphold your
obligations as a citizen,” Obama said. “To vote. To speak out.
To stand up for others, especially the weak, especially the
vulnerable, knowing that each of us is only here because somebody,
somewhere, stood up for us. To stay active in our public life so it
reflects the goodness and decency and optimism that I see in the
American people every single day.”
“It won’t be easy. Our brand of
democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no
longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen
– inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good
humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far. Voices
that help us see ourselves not first and foremost as black or white
or Asian or Latino, not as gay or straight, immigrant or native born;
not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans first, bound by a
common creed. Voices Dr. King believed would have the final word –
voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love.”
“They're out there, those voices. …
It's the son who finds the courage to come out as who he is, and the
father whose love for that son overrides everything he's been
taught.”
Obama also made reference to the
Supreme Court's June ruling which found that gay and lesbian couples
have a constitutional right to marry.
“[I]t's that spirit [of America] that
made the progress of these past seven years possible. It's how we
recovered from the worst economic crisis in generations. It's how we
reformed our health care system, and reinvented our energy sector;
how we delivered more care and benefits to our troops and veterans,
and how we secured the freedom in every state to marry the person we
love.”
LGBT rights advocated applauded the
president's speech. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC), tweeted that Obama “delivered a powerful call for
courage, optimism, respect and unconditional love.”