President Joe Biden speaks at the 2024 State of the Union. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
President Joe Biden spoke in defense of the transgender community, called for passage of the Equality Act and voiced his opposition to book bans during his 2024 State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress March 7.
“Banning books,” he said, “It’s wrong! Instead of erasing history, let’s make history!”
The president added, “I want to protect other fundamental rights! Pass the Equality Act and my message to transgender Americans: I have your back!”
First introduced decades ago, the Equality Act would codify LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination rules in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, federally funded programs, credit and jury service.
“My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy,” Biden said, “A future based on the core values that have defined America: Honesty, decency, dignity, equality. To respect everyone. To give everyone a fair shot. To give hate no safe harbor.”
He then drew a contrast between this vision and the worldview of his political opponents.
“Now some other people my age see a different story: An American story of resentment, revenge and retribution,” Biden said. “That’s not me.”
Shortly into his speech, the president took aim at Republicans who supported the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, that was fomented by former President Donald Trump. Without using his name, Biden then inveighed against his presumptive 2024 GOP rival for refusing to abide protections for NATO allied countries and appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices who have taken rights away from Americans.
Reproductive freedom was a major theme of the speech. Biden touted the electoral wins for Democrats in 2022 and 2023 that were attributed to the mobilization of voters, especially women, who were outraged by the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion.
Repeating a promise that he has often made, in the aftermath of that ruling, Biden said “If Americans send me a Congress that supports the right to choose I promise you: I will restore Roe v. Wade as the law of the land again.”
Most of the president’s address, however, concerned economic accomplishments of his administration over the past three years and plans for policies like a 25 percent minimum tax rate for billionaires “that would raise that would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years.”
Biden also addressed provisions of the bipartisan immigration bill that House Republicans — under pressure from Trump, because he wants to campaign on the issue — vowed to oppose, even though it contained many of the policy changes they have long pushed for.
At this point, Republican members heckled the president.
Drawing another distinction between his approach to immigration reform and his predecessor’s, Biden said, “I will not demonize immigrants saying they’re poisoning the blood of our country. I will not separate families. I will not ban people because of their faith.”
As expected, the president acknowledged that Thursday marked the 59th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” the civil rights march from Selma, Ala., to Birmingham, which was led by the late-Congressman John Lewis, who was then a 25-year-old activist.
“There are forces taking us back in time,” Biden said. “Voter suppression. Election subversion. Unlimited dark money. Extreme gerrymandering.”
“John Lewis was a great friend to many of us here,” he said, calling on Congress to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act to honor him and his legacy.
LGBTQ leaders praise Biden’s speech
In a statement, GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis wrote “President Biden accurately included LGBTQ people in the greatness of American diversity and the fight for fundamental freedoms. The freedom of LGBTQ people to be ourselves, to live in peace and not be discriminated against, to read books about our lives, to have our votes and voices count, are connected to everyone’s freedoms.”
“@POTUS just reaffirmed solidarity with trans folks across America,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson wrote in a post on X. “We know visibility and allyship matters, especially in times of crisis. This support by President Biden is a critical step in the fight for equality.”
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