ORLANDO, Fla. — President Joe Biden said Saturday he would sign legislation making the Pulse nightclub site a national memorial, but added that more needs to be done to prevent gun violence in America on the fifth anniversary of one of the worst mass shootings in American history.
The memorial destination, Biden said, is ”enshrining in law what has been true since that terrible day five years ago: Pulse nightclub is hallowed ground.”
Biden’s statement comes as Central Florida commemorates the events of June 12, 2016, when 49 people died in the Pulse shooting at the gay nightclub on South Orange Avenue.
“Five years ago today in Orlando in the middle of pride month, our nation suffered the deadliest attack affecting the LGBTQ+ community in American history, and at the time, the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman,” Biden said.
“Within minutes, the Pulse nightclub that had long been a place of acceptance and joy turned into a place of unspeakable pain and loss,” Biden said. “Forty-nine people were there celebrating Latin night were murdered, even more injured, and countless others scarred forever – the victims were family members, partners and friends, veterans and students, young, Black, Asian and Latino – our fellow Americans.”
Biden traveled to Orlando along with then-President Barack Obama in the days following the tragedy, where he laid flowers at the makeshift memorial at the Doctor Phillips Center and met with family members of the victims.
He and Obama came, he said, “to pay respects to them and their families, to thank the brave first responders and the community who found strength and compassion in each other, and to pledge that what happened would not be forgotten."
“Over the years, I have stayed in touch with families of the victims and with the survivors who have turned their pain into purpose, and who remind us that we must do more than remember victims of gun violence and all of the survivors, family members, and friends left behind; we must act.”
The Senate passed a bill on Wednesday making Pulse a national memorial, following a companion bill passed in the House in May. Biden’s signature would enact the bill into law.
“But there is more we must do to address the public health epidemic of gun violence in all of its forms – mass shootings and daily acts of gun violence that don’t make national headlines,” Biden said.
“It is long past time we close the loopholes that allow gun buyers to bypass background checks in this country, and the Senate should start by passing the three House-passed bills which would do exactly that,” Biden said. “It is long past time we ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, establish extreme risk protection orders, also known as ‘red flag’ laws, and eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”
Biden added that the U.S. “must also acknowledge gun violence’s particular impact on LGBTQ+ communities across our nation.
“We must drive out hate and inequities that contribute to the epidemic of violence and murder against transgender women – especially transgender women of color. We must create a world in which our LGBTQ+ young people are loved, accepted, and feel safe in living their truth,” he said. “And the Senate must swiftly pass the Equality Act, legislation that will ensure LGBTQ+ Americans finally have equal protection under law.
“In the memory of all of those lost at the Pulse nightclub five years ago, let us continue the work to be a nation at our best – one that recognizes and protects the dignity and safety of every American,” he concluded.
On Friday, Domestic Policy Adviser Susan Rice and White House Public Engagement Director and Senior Adviser Cedric Richmond also hosted a virtual roundtable with LGBTQ+ leaders and gun violence survivors and advocates.
During the roundtable, which included Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf, Jason Lindsay of the Pride Fund to End Gun Violence, Nadine Smith of Equality Florida and Christopher Zoeller of March for Our Lives Florida, gun violence survivors talked about the impact it had on their lives.
They also talked about “the epidemic levels of violence faced by transgender people, especially transgender women of color, and the impact of firearms in the crisis of anti-transgender homicides,” according to the White House.” Participants also discussed the intersection of gun safety and the movement to prevent and end suicide among LGBTQ+ youth.”
Rice and Richmond reiterated Biden’s goals on gun reforms and equality for LGBTQ Americans.
