WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pushed for protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals Tuesday evening, making it the first time bisexual and transgender individuals have ever been recognized directly in a State of the Union address.
“As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we’re threatened, which is why I’ve prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained,” said Obama, adding, “That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they’re right, but because they make us safer.”
Obama is also the first president to ever mention transgender individuals in any public speech, having done so in past contexts other than State of the Union addresses.
Obama declared marriage to be a “civil right” Tuesday night as well, just days after the Supreme Court announced it would take up the issue of marriage equality. This spring, it could finally rule whether it’s unconstitutional to bar same-sex couples from getting married.
“I’ve seen something like gay marriage go from a wedge issue used to drive us apart to a story of freedom across our country, a civil right now legal in states that seven in 10 Americans call home,” said Obama.
Obama, who came out in support of same-sex marriage in May 2012, also tied gay rights to the civil rights fight in his second inaugural address. He said it was “our generation’s task” to carry on what was begun at Seneca Falls, Selma and Stonewall — centers of the fight for women’s rights, African-American rights and LGBT rights, respectively.
“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law –- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” he said.
It was the first time that a president had ever mentioned gay rights in an inaugural address, although some advocates were disappointed that he didn’t include transgender rights as well.
Masen Davis, executive director of the Transgender Law Center in California, was thrilled with the inclusion of transgender and bisexual individuals in Tuesday’s State of the Union speech.
“I listened to the State of the Union with bated breath. President Obama’s public recognition of transgender people in his State of the Union address was historic,” he told The Huffington Post. “It is time for the American public to become aware of our stories and struggles both at home and around the globe.”
Last year, Obama took a number of steps to ban discrimination against the LGBT community, in particular transgender Americans. In July, he signed an executive order making it illegal to fire or harass employees of federal contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The order also explicitly banned discrimination against transgender employees of the federal government.
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live blog Oldest Newest Share + Today 10:17 PM ESTObama Pushes 'The Right Thing' For Workers: Paid Leave, Minimum Wage, Pay Equity HuffPost’s Dave Jamieson reports:
With the U.S. job market on more solid footing, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday night to advance a philosophy he’s increasingly embraced over the past year — that the federal government can and should raise baseline standards inside the American workplace.
Whether it was paid leave, the minimum wage or gender pay equity, the president made his case to a skeptical, Republican-controlled Congress that Washington needs to establish rules governing how the economy works for everyday people, particularly when wages are stagnating despite broader job gains.
“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?” Obama said. “We need to set our sights higher than just making sure government doesn’t halt the progress we’re making. We need to do more than just do no harm.”
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Julee Wilson reports:
While admittedly the President gets center stage at the 2015 State of the Union, we’re eager, as always, to see what the first lady is wearing.
On Tuesday night, Michelle Obama stepped out in a Michael Kors skirt suit. The tweed design, which boasted a wide collar and zipper detailing is a perfect reflection of FLOTUS’ love for form-fitting, yet sophisticated frocks. We’ve seen her in Michael Kors several times before, including the first-ever White House Turnaround Arts Talent Show, the night President Obama was reelected and in her official White House portrait in 2013, just to name a few.
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Jen Bendery reports:
President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to urge Congress to pass legislation authorizing the ongoing war against Islamic State militants.
But the president gave no signs that he would start that process by sending Congress draft language for an Authorization for the Use of Military Force — something lawmakers have been waiting for him to do for months. To the contrary, White House officials signaled earlier in the day that Obama might not send language at all.
Read the full story here.
“I have no more campaigns to run. I know, because I won both of them,” Obama said.
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WASHINGTON — Among the guests of first lady Michelle Obama for Tuesday’s State of the Union address is a Florida-based climate researcher and activist.
Miami native Nicole Hernandez Hammer, described by the White House as a “mother and sea level rise researcher,” will watch as President Barack Obama gives his sixth such address.
Hernandez Hammer, 39, said she got the call last Tuesday inviting her to Washington for the address. “I had never imagined anything like that,” she told The Huffington Post on Tuesday before the speech. “It was hard to believe it was going to happen.”
Read the full story here.
Here’s HuffPost’s State of the Union drinking game, so you can play along as you watch the president’s speech.
Anthony Mendez knows a thing or two about defeating the odds.
The 19-year-old’s best friend was shot and killed during a neighborhood feud in 2011. A year later, Mendez’s family was evicted from their home in the Bronx and forced to live in a shelter for the next six months.
And on Jan. 20, he’ll be first lady Michelle Obama’s guest at the State of the Union, according to USA Today.
Read the full story here.
— Robbie Couch
Republican businesswoman Carly Fiorina blasted President Barack Obama on Tuesday hours before the State of the Union address, disputing the notion that policies enacted during Obama’s six years in office have contributed to an accelerating economic recovery.
“He will apparently declare victory on the economy tonight, but of course, whatever life there is in the economy is not due to his policies, it’s in spite of his policies,” Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard and potential 2016 presidential candidate, said in an interview with Newsmax.
Obama is expected to acknowledge positive economic indicators — including a steadily declining unemployment rate, GDP growth and new highs on Wall Street — when he addresses the nation Tuesday evening. Fiorina’s comments about Obama’s legacy echo those of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who suggested earlier this month that the good news might have something to do with the election of a Republican Congress.
Though considered a long shot for the presidency, Fiorina said she is “seriously considering” throwing her hat into the ring.
— Igor Bobic
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, where she offered some clues about President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address.
“From what I hear about what he will present, it will reflect what we have seen across the country in terms of what he said last year, reflected across the country: ‘When Women Succeed, America Succeeds,'” she said. “It is about college affordability, about child care, about sick leave, all the kinds of issues that enable families –- not just women -– families to succeed.”
Pelosi invoked the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., a day following the federal holiday in his honor, and signaled that the president would also discuss proposals aimed at providing additional assistance to the middle class.
“So what we hear tonight I know will be in furtherance of increasing that paycheck, starting from the middle, starting from benefits –- when I say benefits, initiatives that benefit the middle class and those who aspire to it –- all of it a reflection of the American people’s thinking, all of it about engagement for what the Reverend Martin Luther King talked about, all of it, hopefully, we will be able to do in a bipartisan way,” she added.
— Igor Bobic
A number of House lawmakers plan to hold up yellow pencils during the State of the Union address tonight in symbolic tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack at the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The tribute is being spearheaded by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), whose office confirmed on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would reference the victims of the attack during his address.
“In the face of the terrorist attack in France, the pencil has become the international symbol in support of free speech,” the press release from Moore’s office read. “Rather than divide and intimidate us, these brazen and barbaric attacks have united the international community and prompted a global response in defense of the freedom of expression. The Congresswoman believes that this is unique opportunity to join our global partners in showing our collective support and solidarity.”
An official with Moore’s office told The Huffington Post that as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, at least seven other lawmakers have agreed to raise yellow pencils in solidarity. The official said that the White House has started making calls to the Hill to see who else plans to participate in the tribute, and expects that by the end of the day, multiple members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Progressive Caucus will have joined in.
Moore, for her part, will participate from a wheelchair. The congresswoman took a fall while home during the holidays and is still recovering from broken bones in both her feet and her elbow.
— Sam Stein
