Marine One lands on the South Lawn of the White House with President Joe Biden after midnight. (Washington Blade photo by Christopher Kane)
President Joe Biden said he is “proud” of his legacy on LGBTQ+ rights in response to a question from the Washington Blade as he stopped to talk with reporters after midnight on July 30 on his way back to the White House from the South Lawn.
“I’m very proud of my position,” he said. “I was the first guy to come out for gay marriage” in 2012 when serving as vice president under former President Barack Obama.
Biden’s remarks, during an interview with David Gregory on “Meet the Press,” hastened the administration’s embrace of same-sex marriage and led to Obama’s announcement days later of his support for marriage equality.
Also in response to the Blade question, Biden shared a story he has told since at least 2014.
When he was a teenager in the 1960s in Wilmington, Delaware, “My dad was dropping me off to get a license to be a lifeguard in the city,” Biden said. “When we get out of the car, two guys leaned in and kissed each other. I’d never seen that before.
“I looked at my dad,” the president continued, “and he said, ‘Joey, it’s simple, they love each other.’ It’s simple. That’s my position.”
Biden was returning from a trip to Texas, where he delivered remarks to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act during a visit to the L.B.J. Presidential Library in Austin, followed by an event in Houston where he paid respects to the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who died from cancer on July 19.
Taking other questions from reporters, the president said he hopes his legacy for Gen Z will be the economy and the environment.
Asked when he would campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris in her 2024 presidential bid, Biden said he had done so during his trip to Texas. On the question of whom he would support to run alongside Harris, he said “we’ll talk.”
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