Zea Weiss-Wynne:
Hello, my name is Zea Weiss-Wynne.
Luna Weiss-Wynne:
And I'm her twin sister, Luna.
We are in third grade, and last
December, we wrote
a letter to President Obama.
We told the President that we
would like for him to make some
changes this year.
First, we asked the President to
help make it harder for bad guys
to get guns.
We heard about the students who
were killed and that
made us real sad.
Zea Weiss-Wynne:
Second, we asked for more funding for schools.
I really want more art and
library, because I love to read.
And Luna wants more PE because
she thinks it's healthy
for kids and grownups.
(laughter)
Third, we asked for his support
of gay marriage
because we have --
(applause)
The President:
They're almost done.
Zea Weiss-Wynne:
Because we
have two moms and they are just
as good as other parents.
They love us a lot.
Luna Weiss-Wynne and Zea
Weiss-Wynne:
Ladies and gentlemen, the
President of the United States.
(applause)
The President:
All right.
I will not beat that act.
(laughter)
We could not be prouder of Zea
and Luna for the introduction,
and welcome all of you to the
White House for Pride Month.
(applause)
Zea and Luna are here with their
moms, and also, I think, with
Grandma and Grandpa, correct?
And so, feel free to
congratulate them afterwards for
their outstanding introduction.
There are a few other folks who
don't have the same star wattage
that I want to acknowledge.
First of all, my Vice
President, Joe Biden.
(applause)
We've got some outstanding
members of Congress here,
including a record
number from the
Congressional Equality Caucus.
(applause)
Eric Fanning, the Under
Secretary of the
Air Force is here.
Major General Patricia Rose and
her wife, Retired Lieutenant
Julie Roth, are here.
We've got Fred Hochberg and
Elaine Kaplan, two outstanding
members of my
team, who are here.
And John Berry is here, a former
-- John is a former
member of my team.
You may not recognize him
because he looks so well rested
now that he's left
the administration.
(laughter)
And even though she couldn't
be here today, because she's
getting ready to finally take
her seat on the bench and get
to work, I want to congratulate
Nitza Quinones Alejandro, who,
just a few hours ago, was
confirmed by the Senate, making
her the first openly gay
Hispanic federal judge
in our country's history.
(applause)
And what I'm especially excited
about, in addition to Zea
and Luna, we've got citizens
from all across the country who
wrote me letters over the
last several years.
And in a letter from Kathleen, a
young woman from Massachusetts,
I saw someone who had been
experienced -- who had
experienced too much
discrimination and hatred
at such a young age,
at the age of 24.
But I also read about someone
who dreams of becoming a doctor
so that she can help others,
and who is determined to make
a difference because, as she put
it, she is "hopeful of a world
filled with love."
Love is what I saw in Valerie
and Diane's letter from
North Dakota, who've been
together for 37 years.
Their son Madison is here, 14.
They told me that when Madison
was little -- he's not little
now, by the way.
(laughter)
He used to say that someday he
was going to become president
and make it legal for
his moms to get married.
And now, they added, "I don't
think we're going
to have to wait that long."
(applause)
Madison, I agree with
you that it's time.
I agree that you should
run for president.
Male Speaker:
Does that include Joe?
(laughter)
The Vice President:
I agree, too.
The President:
And I agree that
we're not going to have to wait
that long, because from
Minnesota to Maryland, from the
United States Senate to the
NBA, it's clear we're reaching
a turning point.
(applause)
We have -- we've become not just
more accepting; we've become
more loving, as a
country, and as a people.
Hearts and minds
change with time.
Laws do, too.
Change like that isn't something
that starts here in Washington,
but it's something that has
the power that Washington has
a great deal of difficulty
resisting over time.
It's something that comes from
the courage of those who stood
up, and sat in, and came out.
It's something that comes from
the compassion of family, and
friends, and coworkers, and
teammates who show their
love and support.
(baby crying)
Yes, it's true.
(laughter)
And it's something that can be
traced back to our Declaration
of Independence, the fundamental
principle that all
of us are created equal.
And as I said in my Inaugural
Address, if we truly are created
equal, then surely the love we
commit to one another must
be equal as well.
(applause)
That's the principle that's
guided my administration over
the past four and a half years.
We passed a hate crimes bill
in Matthew Shepard's name.
We lifted the HIV entry ban,
released the first
national HIV/AIDS strategy.
We strengthened the Violence
Against Women Act
to protect LGBT victims.
We told Medicare that -- we told
hospitals that accept Medicare
and Medicaid that they have to
treat LGBT patients just
like everybody else.
Starting next year, the
Affordable Care Act will ban
insurance companies from denying
someone for -- from coverage
just for being LGBT.
We put in place new policies
that treat transgender Americans
with dignity and respect.
And because no one should have
to hide who they love to serve
the country that they love, we
ended "don't ask, don't tell"
once and for all.
(applause)
But we're -- part of the reason
we're here is because we know
we're not done yet.
When Zea and Luna wrote me last
December, they told me they
would have voted for me if
they could have; thanks, guys.
(laughter)
They also laid out
quite an agenda.
I hope Congress is
listening to them.
But I want them and all of you
to know that I'm not giving
up the fight to keep our kids
safe from gun violence.
I'm not giving up the fight
-- not giving up the fight for
smarter and better schools.
I'll continue to support
marriage equality and states'
attempts to legalize it,
including my home
state of Illinois.
We're not giving up on that.
(applause)
And, you know, as we saw earlier
this year with the gun safety
debate, sometimes this
stuff takes time,
and it's frustrating.
And you take two steps forward
and sometimes there's
a step back.
But I deeply believe in
something that Martin Luther
King, Jr. said often, and that
is that the arc of the moral
universe is long, but it
bends towards justice.
Eventually America
gets it right.
Now that doesn't mean
we can be patient.
We know from our own history
that change happens because
people push to make it happen.
We've got to do the hard work
of educating others, showing
empathy to others,
changing hearts and minds.
And when we do that,
then change occurs.
It doesn't come always as
quickly as we like,
but progress comes.
We've got to keep pushing.
We've got to make access to
health care more available
and affordable for folks
living with HIV.
We've got to implement the
protections
in the Affordable Care Act.
We've got to keep making our
classrooms and our neighborhoods
safe for all of
our young people.
And I agree with Susan, a PFLAG
mom from Ohio, we've got
to end LGBT discrimination in
the places where we work.
You know, Susan wrote me and
said, "If I have a concern
it is that there are so many
LGBT men and women who
contribute to the wealth and
growth of our nation, but
they're still not protected from
harassment in the workplace."
And I share that concern.
In 34 states, you can be fired
just because of who you are or
who you love.
That's wrong.
We've got to change it.
There's a bipartisan bill moving
forward in the Senate that would
ban discrimination against all
LGBT Americans in the workplace
now and forever.
We need to get that passed.
I want to sign that bill.
We need to get it done now.
(applause)
And I think we can
make that happen because after
the last four and a half years,
you can't tell
me things can't happen.
Look around.
We've got gay and lesbian
soldiers, and sailors,
and airmen, and marines
who are here today.
We've got married couples
from places like New York
and Washington State.
You've got a couple of guys
here on stage who I don't think
anybody in their high schools
thought would be the President
and the Vice President
of the United States.
(laughter)
So don't tell me
that things can't happen when
we put our minds to them.
The genius of America is
that America can change.
And people who love this
country can change it.
That's what we're called to do.
And I hope that when we gather
here next year, and the year
after that, we'll be able to
say, with pride and confidence,
that together we've made our
fellow citizens
a little more free.
We've made this country
a little more equal.
We've made our world a
little more full of love.
So thank you very
much, everybody.
God bless you.
God bless America.
Enjoy the party.
(applause)
