President Donald Trump’s administration ended June without acknowledging LGBT Pride Month, breaking recent precedent.
June has historically been recognized as Pride Month, the month chosen to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York. The month has been officially recognized under former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, according to The Hill, although the last Republican president, George W. Bush, did not recognize the month.
In proclamations signed May 31, Trump declared June National Homeownership Month, National Ocean Month, African-American Music Appreciation Month, National Caribbean-American Heritage Month and Great Outdoors Month.
"We are deeply disappointed to see that President Trump has not followed the tradition of issuing an LGBT Pride Month Proclamation for 2017," Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of the American Military Partner Association, told Politico last month. "After decades of discrimination, today, LGBT service members proudly serve our nation openly – many with spouses and families proudly standing by their side."
BuzzFeed News reported that journalists with the news site asked the White House every day last month whether Trump would issue a proclamation or statement recognizing Pride Month. Spokesperson Kelly Love answered three inquiries, saying each time that the site would be informed if the White House put out anything official for the month.
Last year, during the race for the White House, Trump promised to "fight for" the LGBT community.
"I will fight for you while Hillary (Clinton) brings in more people that will threaten your freedoms and beliefs," he wrote June 14, 2016, on Twitter.
Although the president stayed mum last month, his eldest daughter, Ivanka, acknowledged Pride Month on Twitter.
"I am proud to support my LGBTQ friends and the LGBTQ Americans who have made immense contributions to our society and economy," she wrote in a tweet.
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