Ahead of the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, Vice President Kamala Harris paid a visit to the bar known as the birthplace of the modern-day LGBTQ rights movement.
“This place represents a real inflection moment in this movement, which is a movement that is about equality, that is about freedom, that is about safety,” Harris said to reporters in front of the Stonewall Inn on June 26.
The vice president said she knows the fight is not over, with hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ individuals — especially transgender folks — of their rights and book bans taking place across different states in a bid to erase LGBTQ and black history. She noted the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bills in Florida and acknowledge the fear for safety.
“Fighting with pride is about being a patriot, about loving our country, believing in a promise and the ideals of our country, and fighting to make them real for all people everyday,” she stated.
After her visit to the historic site, the vice president took to Twitter to follow up on her visit.
“54 years later, Stonewall reminds us of the progress we have made and the importance of our continued fight for equality,” Harris said. “Together, let us continue to fight with pride. Happy Pride, everybody!”
Harris later wrote, “Eight years after Obergefell and a decade after Windsor and Perry, there are extremists who want to take us back. But we’re not going back. We’re going forward — to the Equality Act, full LGBTQI+ rights, and an America where every person can be who they are and love who they love.”
