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DNC celebrates progress under Obama on marriage equality anniversary

DNC celebrates progress under Obama on marriage equality anniversary

Sunday, June 26 marked the one year anniversary of marriage equality in the United States, with the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges ruling making it the law of the land.

In celebration, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a video reflecting on eight years of LGBTQ rights progress under the Obama administration.

June 26 was also the anniversary of three other landmark Supreme Court decisions: U.S. v. Windsor (2013), which struck down DOMAHollingsworth v. Perry (2013), which found California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional, and Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down sodomy laws.

“LGBT Americans have seen tremendous progress under President Obama, and we can’t afford to go backwards. There is more work to be done to achieve full equality,” said DNC spokesperson TJ Helmstetter in a press release. “We need to enact the Equality Act to prevent discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. We need to prevent and reverse anti-gay and anti-trans legislative efforts like HB2 and so-called religious freedom legislation that would allow businesses and government officials to discriminate against our community. That’s why it’s so important to defeat Donald Trump and elect a Democrat as the next President of the United States to continue to build on President Obama’s remarkable pro-LGBT record.”

The video features President Obama announcing legislative accomplishments, such as signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act and the re-authorization of the Ryan White Care Act, as well as marking important milestones while in office, such as the aforementioned ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch also features prominently in the video, with clips taken from the press conference announcing the Department of Justice (DOJ) was suing the state of North Carolina over HB2.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both campaigning to get the LGBTQ vote, with Trump claiming he is better for women and “the gays” than his Democratic rival. Clinton begs to differ.

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