Barack Obama, 58, wished America a Happy Pride Month with a throwback photo of his former home, The White House, lit up in the LGBTQ flag’s rainbow colors on June 15. Just hours earlier, the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal for employers to discriminate American workers based on their sexual orientation and gender identity — thus protecting gay and transgender people. It was a historical move, especially considering that two Conservative justices supported the 6-3 ruling. Of course, Obama had to react to this milestone!
“Today reminds us that progress might be slow. It might take decades. But no matter what things might look like today, it’s always possible. Happy Pride month, everybody,” Obama wrote on Twitter, alongside the photo of the rainbow-colored White House. The photo was taken amid Obama’s presidential term in 2015, on the same day that the SCOTUS made another ruling that the LGTBQ community celebrated: the legality of same-sex marriages nationwide.
Donald Trump has remained noticeably mum on this most recent victory for LGTBQ people — a silence that was reflected outside his home on Monday, which remained white. So, fans have instead thanked who they acknowledge as their real “president”: Obama! “Thank you, President Obama. LGBTQ people like me have hope because of the way you paved,” one person tweeted in response to the former POTUS’ Pride post, and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Shangela Laquifa Wadley wrote, “Come baaaaaack. We love and miss you Mr. President.”
A third person compared side-by-side photos of Obama’s colorful White House, versus the White House going dark amid the Black Lives Matter protests on May 31. “When love is in The White House vs when hate is. Thank President Obama for lighting the way. We miss you,” the citizen tweeted.
Obama hasn’t been the only big name to react to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday. Stars like Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift shared their overjoyed thoughts on Twitter! It was a much-needed day of celebration across social media, since just three days prior, people were devastated to learn that the Trump administration finalized a ruling that based sex discrimination on “the plain meaning of the word ‘sex’ as male or female and as determined by biology” in health care, according to The Department of Health and Human Services’s statement from June 12. This stripped gay and transgender patients of protections that an Obama-era rule previously granted, thanks to its inclusion of gender identity discrimination in Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.
This isn’t the first time Americans have chosen to honor Obama instead of the current commander-in-chief! Instead of sending birthday wishes to Trump when he turned 74 years old on June 14, many people instead filled Twitter with posts about Obama’s time in office. This day was no different.