Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chris Abele Impact Award honors a leader who has been steadfast in supporting the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute and someone who has made significant contributions in advancing LGBTQ+ equality. We present this award that recognizes exceptional, exceptional commitment to strengthening LGBTQ+ representation and expanding quality through service and advocacy.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I think it's still you. It says [inaudible 00:00:36] the past.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Abele and David Bonnet are the two past honorees and our President Biden will be the recipient of the 2025 Chris Abele Impact Award. President Joe Biden is a hero and an icon for LGBTQ+ community. He's been a longtime supporter of our work and our mission. He presided over the most inclusive administration in history, in history, hands down. He, of course, was a critical partner in making government reflect the LGBTQ+ community that it serves, but that's not all that he's done.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
So on Meet the Press in 2012, and I think you will recall what is one of my favorite can't miss TV moments, in an unscripted moment, speaking straight from the heart, which could describe most of our great president's career, he announced his support for same-sex marriage. As vice president, he was the first member of a sitting federal administration to do that. It caught President Obama a little off guard. However, three days later, President Obama announced his support as well.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Years later, in December of 2022, as president, Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act and it codified same-sex marriage and it repealed the Defense of Marriage Act. If I may borrow a touch of Irish wisdom, a good heart is better than all the heads in the world, and Joe Biden has one of the biggest hearts we've ever known. He shows up for families, for communities, for equality, always with warmth, humility, and a steadfast belief that we can do better for each other.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
President Biden, we are grateful for your support, your friendship, and your love. You remind us that progress is absolutely possible, that inclusion matters, that love and decency will always prevail. So let's be reminded victory, don't get mad, get elected. Victory. Victory. Victory. Would you please join me, stand and give a warm victory welcome to join in solidarity to welcome the 46th President of these United States, President Joe Biden. [inaudible 00:04:22]
MUSIC (04:17):
Your love lifting me higher than I've ever been lifted before.
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So keep it up, quench my desire.
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And I'll be at your side forevermore.
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You know your love keep on lifting me higher.
(04:17)
Your love keeps lifting me. Love keeps lifting me. Lifting me.
(04:17)
Higher and higher.
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Higher.
(04:17)
I said your love keep on lifting me higher and higher.
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Your love keeps lifting me.
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Your love keeps lifting me.
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Higher.
(04:17)
Listen, now once I was downhearted.
Joe Biden (05:27):
Oh, hello. I'm not going home. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Please, please sit down. Evan, thank you for your visionary leadership of this organization. And Chris, I'm honored to receive a award in your name, in your name. And I'm accepting this award knowing it's a recognition of all the work we've done. Michael, thank you for your… And especially thanks to David who supported me, supported the Victory Fund, but supported me long before that all occurred. Folks, I also want to recognize so many friends that are here today. Where's Movella? Mo, where are you?
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Here, sir.
Joe Biden (06:05):
There you go, Mo. We're doing this for a long time, Mo and I, and I've relied on his advice throughout my career, particularly when I was vice president. I knew his direction to go.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
And I love you just as much as them, sir.
Joe Biden (06:23):
Thank you. Next week marks three years, three years, since many of us who stood on a crisp day in the south lawn of the White House, where I signed the Respect for Marriage Act. So as the ceremony came to an end, as it came to an end, the sun began to set, rainbow lights lit up the portico of the White House. The moment had an air of celebration, but also, quite frankly, for me and many of you, I expect, a air of relief, relief. Finally, to the hard work, faith, counsel, sheer grit of folks like you in this room and so many who came before you, the moment, the momentous battle was finally won. Finally, finally, finally. And look, today though, we know there's much more work to do. And the challenges ahead can feel daunting, particularly in the face of everything we're seeing coming out of this reactionary White House.
(07:36)
We're all here today for the same reason, same reason. It's all because we believe in the power of our democracy to pull the nation together in our worst moments actually. We're the only country in the world that's gone through every crisis and come out stronger than we went into the crisis, every time. America's the only country also that's founded on an idea. We're unique. Not a joke. It's not just [inaudible 00:08:05] it's true. We're the only country founded on idea. Every other country in the world's founded on geographic boundaries, religion, ethnicity, but we're an idea. A strong idea. A stronger and more powerful than any dictator or any army. And that in America, we hold these truths to be self-evident that men are created equal. All deserve to be treated with dignity throughout their lives. And all of us, each and every one of us deserves that.
(08:38)
That's how I was raised. That's how many you raised, I guess, too. We've never lived up to that idea though, but we've never walked away from it. We've never walked away from it either. And so you've heard me say before that when I was growing up, whenever something bad happened, I used to be a stutter and people who made a lot of fun of me and a lot of other things. My dad would look at me, say, "Joey, just get up. Get up, Joey. Get up." Well, folks, that's my message to all of us today. To all who love our country, to all. All of us are dismayed by the president state of the union. This is no time to give up. It's time to get up. Get up and fight back. Get up. Continue to fight.
(09:37)
And what's the fight all about? It's not inaudible 00:09:40] it's about protecting the Constitution. It's about protecting the Constitution. Some of you are old enough to remember back in 2012, I went on Meet the Press. I got myself in a bit of trouble, but good trouble. I just couldn't remain silent anymore. We had this whole plan to let things… Anyway, I told the truth. I expressed my support for gay marriage a little earlier than some folks had been expecting it. While that comment got all the attention, I also told another story during that interview. I'd been speaking a few weeks earlier and there was a group of LGBTQ leader in a private home. And during the Q&A period I was in that home, a gentleman stood up and said, "Mr. Vice President, let me ask you a question. How do you feel about us," is the way he said it.
(10:49)
I turned to the gay couple who owned the house. I looked at both of them. I said, "What did I do first when I walked in the door of your home?" And they both said, "You walked right up to our two children." And I turned to the person asking the question. I said, "I said to those children, 'I wish every American.'" I mean, this is the bottom of my heart. "I wish every American could have seen love in the eyes of these two young boys for their dads. It was palpable. I could feel it because if they did see that, they'd never have any doubt about what this is all about.
(11:39)
Folks, a lot has gotten lost in all the noise with terms like DEI being weaponized and people's basic identity turned into political football. Right now, in no small part because of the victory all of all of this in our national debate, the young people sitting alone at home as I speak, literally behind closed doors, scrolling through social media, staring to ceiling, literally wondering whether you are and I've talked to many of these young men and women wondering whether will they ever be loved. Will they ever marry? Will they ever have a family? Ever truly be accepted for who they are? So my message to young people is this, just be you. Be who you are. You are loved. You're heard and you're increasingly understand you belong, you belong, you belong, you belong. I mean it. Things are changing.
(12:59)
Folks, Donald Trump and the MAGA Republics are trying to distort and derail our fight for equality. They're trying to turn it into something scary, something sinister. But folks, it's really not about anything that's all that complicated. At its core, it's about making every American, giving the opportunity to be treated with basic decency, dignity and respect they all deserve. That's what every single American deserves, every American. This administration is trying to use those issues as a wedge to further divide the country, but there's nothing more American than the notion of equality. Nothing, nothing, nothing. And folks, it's a struggle as old as the country's founding. That's why many of us are in this room today. We also know that the fight ahead is about more than equality. It's about opportunity. It's about opportunity. It's about making sure every American has a chance to make a decent living. It's about having equal access to quality healthcare, make it affordable. It's about they can pay any rent, send their kids to college, pay for their grocery bills.
(14:42)
It's about making sure every American can come home at the end of the day, look their kid in the eye, and say, "Honey, it's going to be okay." It's that basic. It is that basic. You've heard me say before, my dad used to say, "It's all about, can you look your child in the eye and say, 'It's going to be okay.'" That's what we worked so hard to do during my administration. In those four years, we created 16 million new jobs, unemployment dropped. Unemployment dropped to a 50-year low. We lowered the price of everything from healthcare to cost of college to junk fees and airline tickets and credit cards. We made a lot of progress. We had so much more we had to do to make life affordable for every American.
(15:37)
And it's this work that's motivated so many of you to step up, put your name on the ballot and run for office. LGBT candidates across the country running not only to ensure quality for every American, but also to ensure that every American has access to opportunities they deserve. I want to thank those of you who are willing to put yourself on the line, willing to subject yourself and your families to the public scrutiny and the attacks that surely will come your way in order to make life better for every American. It's going to take character. It's going to take courage. So please join me today in thanking all the candidates elected to office here today and please stand up, candidates. Stand up. Thank you.
(16:43)
Think of what you've done. I know I look like I'm only 40 years old. I know that. I've been doing this job for 51 years. If I made that same comment in this room, and I've spoken in this room that many years ago, made that same comment in this room 50 years ago, 30 years ago, 25 years ago, I'd have been thrown out of here. Not a joke. Well, when I took office, I promised to have an administration look like America. I've kept my promise. And not just for the community, but my press secretary, Karine. My head personnel, Goodman is here. I don't know if he's here or not.
Speaker 6 (17:44):
Here, sir.
Joe Biden (17:46):
There you are. Stand up. Oh, I see Karine. There you are. Along with many others who served in my administration. You all worked on issues that went far beyond equality for the LGBTQ community. With your help, we accomplished much, not just in this community, but all costs to create opportunity for everybody. My dad really all [inaudible 00:18:16] aside, my dad was a really decent honorable man, a well-read guy. And my dad would say, "Joey, everybody deserves a shot, no guarantee, but everybody deserves a shot." So, again, please join me in thanking all those who work for my administration and continue to work in government. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
(18:35)
Let me close with this. Sorry I'm taking too long here. I apologize. Folks, America's not a fairytale. For 250 years, there's been a constant push and pull, an existential struggle between peril and possibility. We're not guaranteed a fairytale ending, but I believe the America of our dreams is always closer than we think. I know I'm characterized as an eternal optimist, but I am. My friend, Congresswoman Sarah McBride. What a kid. She used to work for my son, Beau, who passed away because of what happened in Iraq. He was attorney general. She worked for him and he used to have to protect her, go out of his way.
(19:42)
Well, she wanted to be here today, but she's giving an important speech at my alma mater, the University of Delaware. Sarah talks about, "Doing the hard work of persuasion." And in these times, which can be dispiriting and even hurtful, Sarah says, "Hope." Quoting her. "Hope is a conscious choice. You have to summon it. You have to summon it. It's not automatic." Friends, we are one of the only countries in the world that time and again has come out of every crisis stronger than we entered into that crisis. I still believe emerging from the many crisis caused by this administration as we have constantly, nonetheless, come out stronger, wiser and more resilient than before.
(20:45)
We just have to get up. As long as we keep the faith, summon hope and get back up and remember who in the hell we are. We're the United States of America. That's who we are. We're the US and there's nothing, I mean insincerely, there's nothing beyond our capacity in America when we act together. So let's work together. Let's keep this fight going and let's win it together now, not tomorrow, now. Thank you. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Sorry it took so long. I'm so damn proud of all of you. No, I really am. I'm proud of your courage. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Every time I'd walk out of my grandfather Finnegan's house, and screamed yelled, "Joey, keep the faith." My grandmother yelled, "No, Joey, spread it. Let's spread it." Thank you.
MUSIC (21:46):
… keep on lifting me higher.
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Love keeps lifting me.
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Love keeps lifting me.
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Higher and higher.
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Your love keeps lifting me.
(21:46)
I said your love keep on lifting higher and higher.
(21:46)
Your love keeps lifting me.
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Love keeps lifting me.
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Lifting me.
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Lifting me higher and higher.
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Higher.
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Listen, now once I was down…
Speaker 2 (22:12):
Let's use this pause and BOG, go.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Thank…