On Friday, May 30, 2014 Obama decided to proclaim June LGBT pride month.

“I do hereby proclaim June 2014 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.” (Obama)

Even though this has been a huge accomplishment for the LGBT community (along with many others over the past couple of years) Obama also recognized that the community still continues to be faced with many obstacles and barriers. He took some time to share this about his administration

“My Administration proudly stands alongside all those who fight for LGBT rights. Here at home, we have strengthened laws against violence toward LGBT Americans, taken action to prevent bullying and harassment, and prohibited discrimination in housing and hospitals,” Obama stated. “Despite this progress, LGBT workers in too many States can be fired just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity; I continue to call on the Congress to correct this injustice by passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.” (Obama Quoted in Metro Weekly)

Cutting down discrimination and oppressive behavior among people today is an uphill battle and with support of individuals in higher places and constant fight for rights, that’s what will help overcome obstacles as a whole. People are often not willing to fight for things that aren’t affecting them directly.

What if those that are the majority becomes a minority group and are in the position of needing help and nobody was willing to help because those type of situations didn’t affect them. Only at that point would they fully understand the true feeling of oppression and that’s where Obama has shown that he indeed understands that while it’s not his battle directly, it is something that his people have faced years ago.

With this collective thinking behind the American people, our culture can continue to thrive as it has over the past 30 years and go beyond anything anybody has ever thought was possible.