Life

Joe Biden announces that Pulse nightclub will become a national memorial

By Jordan Robledo

13th June 2021

Jay Godwin for LBJ Library via Flickr

President Joe Biden has revealed his plans to honour the Pulse Nightclub with a new bill.

On Saturday (12 June), Biden released a statement announcing his plans on making Pulse Nightclub into a national memorial.

“In the coming days, I will sign a bill designating Pulse Nightclub as a national memorial, enshrining in law what has been true since that terrible day five years ago: Pulse Nightclub is hallowed ground,” he said.

Biden also touched on visiting the families of the victims in 2016 and revealed that he still keeps in contact with them to this day.

“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… we must act,” he said.

“We 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 colour.”

Biden concluded his statement by pushing for the Equality Act to be passed, which is currently stuck in the Senate.

 

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A post shared by President Joe Biden (@potus)

“The Senate must swiftly pass the Equality Act, legislation that will ensure LGBTQ+ Americans finally have equal protection under law,” he stated.

“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.”

Biden’s Pulse national memorial bill has passed in both the House of Representatives and Senate.

On 12 June 2016, 29-year-old security guard Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a mass shooting inside Pulse, in Orlando, Florida. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in US history.