The LGBTQ community is under attack by MAGA extremists but President Joe Biden won’t let them take victories away, first lady Jill Biden told supporters of a human rights group at an event in Los Angeles over the weekend.
The first lady was speaking to a Saturday night dinner for the Human Rights Campaign at the Fairmont Century Plaza.
“Today, this community is under attack,” Jill Biden said. “Rights are being stripped away. Freedoms are eroding. More and more state laws are being passed targeting this community.”
She noted Democrats negotiating the government funding bill had to fend off more than 50 anti-gay amendments proposed by Republicans.
“These were extreme measures aimed directly at this community — measures that would have limited health care, eroded protections for same-sex couples, and more,” Jill Biden said. “And they served only one purpose: to spread hate and fear.”
The first lady warned that history has shown democracies disappear slowly, subtly and silently.
“A book ban. A court decision. A `don’t say gay’ law,” she warned. “One group of people loses their rights. And then another, and another. Until one morning you wake up and you no longer live in a democracy.”
Jill Biden noted her husband’s efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ community. “Thanks to President Biden, marriage equality is now the law of the land. He ended the ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood. He’s made it possible for trans Americans to serve openly, honorably in the military. And he’s standing firmly against conversion therapy.”
She is scheduled to attend another event in Los Angeles Monday as part of the White House initiative on Women’s Health Research.
On Friday, Biden arrived at Hollywood Burbank Airport and attended a fundraiser at the Hancock Park home of Dr. Patricia Gordon, who told the crowd the event had raised more than $1 million — more than any other fundraiser headlined by the first lady.
Jill Biden flew to Palm Springs on Saturday to speak at a fundraiser at Rancho Mirage hosted by James Santos, the former U.S. ambassador to Spain in the Obama administration, and his partner Michael Smith.
Proceeds from the fundraiser in Rancho Mirage will go toward the Biden Victory Fund benefiting the Biden campaign for president, the Democratic National Committee and state Democratic parties.