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Transcript: Mayor de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray Deliver Remarks at LGBT Pride Reception

June 23, 2016

First Lady Chirlane McCray: Happy Pride, family!

[Applause]

And thank you Carmelyn. You know you are really blessed to have such a passionate warrior for justice like Carmelyn. Please show her some more love.

[Applause]

I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight and helping us kick off Pride weekend. I know the tragedy in Orlando is still at the front of everyone’s mind. We are still a nation in mourning. That means this weekend’s celebrations will be tinged with sadness. But that’s okay because if there’s one thing the LGBT community has taught the world it is this – when we channel our sadness and anger into action, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome.

[Applause]

So in honor of those we lost at Pulse, we must once again work together to create the life and the future we deserve. We must show gun-beholden lawmakers that they have two options – get on the right side of history or get pushed aside.

[Applause]

We must show the terrorists that every act of violence only binds us closer to our Muslim sisters and brothers who know better than anyone that the true Islam –

[Applause]

That’s right – that the true Islam is a religion of peace.

[Applause]

We must change the culture around mental health so people who are struggling can find help before their illness is all-consuming. You can clap for that.

[Applause]

And on Sunday, when we march through the streets of this great city, we must again raise our voices loud and clear; we must hold our friends and our allies tighter than ever; and we must dance with a righteous joy.

[Applause]

Because – because this movement was founded on love. And we will not stop dancing. We will not stop demonstrating. We will not stop demonstrating. We will not stop demanding change because we are going to fight until everyone is safe, every love is safe. Who’s with me on that?

[Applause]

It is now my great pleasure to introduce someone who has been a part of this movement way before I met him. And he is my – my trusted partner – my husband and your trailblazing Mayor – Bill de Blasio.

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you everyone. I want to first say that one of the things that caused me to fall in love with Chirlane McCray is she never met a taboo that she was not going to break down and stop dead in its tracks. And she fights stigma, and she fights exclusion. This is who she has been since way back when she was in high school. By the way she went to an all-white high school and demanded they have a black studies curriculum. So –

[Applause]

So it’s just kind of the way she is. [Laughter] But she has fought against any effort to hold people back and keep them from realizing all they should and could in this life. And now I have to tell you – of all the fights she has taken on – really want to credit her because now all over the city, people are having a conversation about mental health that they weren’t having until the First Lady spoke up. And we thank you.

[Applause]

This is a time of joy. And it’s really important to dwell on that. Carmelyn spoke about it. Chirlane spoke about it. It’s called Pride month. It’s named after a positive emotion. There are a lot of people – sadly we see this in our national debate too often – there are a lot of people who want to take away our pride, take away our joy, take away our hope. As a progressive, I’ve often noted that there are people and institutions that try to rob us of our life force, of our willingness to keep fighting for what we know is right, and to keep uplifting each other. What I love about Pride month, and Pride week, and the Pride Parade is it says very clearly – we are here to celebrate a victory of the human spirit. We are here to express our pride and never turn back. And I’m so happy to be able to celebrate that with all of you.

[Applause]

We have to talk about what happened in Orlando to make sense of it even though it was so senseless – to find the strength and the solidarity out of it. It was an attack on the LGBT community. It was an attack on our Latino brothers and sisters. And like every act of terror – defied our values. And what’s so striking to recognize is – terrorism is an effort to take away our values, and make us fearful, and intimidate us out of what we believe. What is so beautiful to watch is the way people reject that and double down – say with even more strength – we stand up for our values; no one turns us back. That’s what we have to remember after every tragedy – and I wish that this would be the last – it is a chance to reaffirm – no one takes our values from us – our New York values.

[Applause]

I don’t know if you heard about it – some people were saying bad things about New York values.

[Laughter]

It was on the news a little bit. And how ironic – in effort to stereotype us and belittle us, it only brought out our sense of who we are even more. And I’m very proud whenever the nation turns its eyes to New York – and it’s going to turn its eyes to New York on Sunday – I guarantee you.

[Applause]

Our country that’s still struggling – I don’t think any of us have an identity struggle, but our nation sometimes does. And our nation is still trying to figure out if we’re going to live up to our ideals. Well on Sunday, our ideals will be on display – freedom, respect for all, tolerance, inclusion. By the way on Sunday, you will see every faith, every nationality, every ethnicity dancing down the street together. Is that not the American dream?

[Applause]

You know what is something else that’s part of the American dream – that you think someday if I work hard enough and I have enough talent, I’ll be a big star on Broadway. Well that actually happened to Nick Adams. So his talent, his hard work led him to many great roles. But one in particular to capture the hearts of so many fans – when he starred as Adam and Felicia when he starred in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

[Applause]

For his role, Nick won over audiences who voted them their favorite diva performance and favorite breakthrough performance – the most coveted of awards. And Nick has it all, and what I love about him is he wants to share his talents here because he believes in Pride. And so tonight, Nick will sing, We Belong.

[Applause]

[...]

Mayor: Dude, I don’t know if you know that, but that was a capella. That was pretty amazing. Well done, sir. Thank you for gracing us.

And speaking of gracing us – let me introduce some of the great people who are here tonight celebrating Pride with us. First of all, I want to give a special thank you to the members of our Commission on Gender Equity – thank you for the great work you are doing to make this city a more fair and equal place.

[Applause]

Thank you to Deputy Mayor Richard Buery – the man who brought you pre-K for all – thank you.

[Applause]

We have a Chair of the Human Rights Commission who can only be described by the legal term – badass. Let’s thank her for all she does – Carmelyn Malalis.

[Applause]

Our Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.

[Applause]

Our Commissioner for Community Affairs Marco Carrión.

[Applause]

Our Aging Commissioner Donna Corrado.

[Applause]

The OATH Commissioner Fidel Del Valle.

[Applause]

The Cultural Affairs Commissioner – former head of the Queens Museum – Tom Finkelpearl.

[Applause]

Commissioner for Veteran Services General Loree Sutton.

[Applause]

Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence Cecile Noel.

[Applause]

Our Director for Intergovernmental Affairs Emma Wolfe.

[Applause]

Director for Citywide Events Michael Paul Carey.

[Applause]

Executive Director of the Gracie Mansion Conservancy Paul Gunther; our Director of Appointments Rachel Lauter – there are so many people – Director for Special Events Carla Matero; the Executive Director of the Public Design Commission, Justin Moore; the Chair of the Taxi and Limousine Commission, Meera Joshi.

[Applause]

There’s a TLC constituency here – very good.

And Director of Food Policy Barbara Turk – because we all like food, don’t we?

[Applause]

Thank you to the elected officials who are with us – Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer.

[Applause]

Council Member Corey Johnson.

[Applause]

Council Member Barry Grodenchik.

[Applause]

Assemblymember David Weprin.

[Applause]

And two very special guests – United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic James Wally Brewster – thank you.

[Applause]

And someone who is fighting for change in one of the places that needs it most – in the world of sports – Major League Baseball’s Ambassador for Inclusion Billy Bean. Thank you for standing up.

[Applause]

So I just want to say a couple of other quick things. Pride this time of year is a time not only to show love, and embrace, and appreciation for each other, but also to celebrate victories. Again, I think there’s a lot of people trying to take your victories away from you.

[Applause]

Thank you. I was going to ask for an amen, but I got one already.

[Laughter]

And there have been extraordinary victories. And this is one way to think about it – we gathered a year ago for this annual Pride event. And on that day – the day we gathered – marriage equality was not the law of the land in the United States of America – when we last gathered for this annual event. Now to be fair, it took two more days. Two days later, the Supreme Court affirmed the right to marriage equality for all.

[Applause]

But I don’t need to preach to the choir if I want to remind you – the Supreme Court, in their infinite wisdom – they basically were just catching up with what the people had decided already. And the people got there because so many people in this room fought for years, in some cases for decades, for the idea of marriage equality.

[Applause]

So if you follow that thread – change comes because of every one of us. Change comes from the grassroots. Change comes from persistence. Then follow that right back to 1969 to the Stonewall Inn.

[Applause]

And we are so proud that the LGBT civil rights movement started right here in New York City.

[Applause]

And now it is being recognized all over this nation that this is the birthplace. So we have a special obligation to fight for civil and human rights for everyone – for the LGBT community; for the Latino community, as I say suffered so much pain in Orlando; for our Muslim community, that’s always put under such pressure for the acts of a very few.

[Applause]

And we have to continue. We have to realize there’s always another victory to be had. A year ago at this time, there was not an inclusive contingent in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. But this March, there was a full LGBT contingent in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

[Applause]

And this year, as Carmelyn told you – not only does New York City say no to the exclusion and the hatred we see in some states and the legislation they’re passing – we say not only do we believe people should choose the bathroom that fits their identity as they see it, but we are advertising that fact so everyone knows they are respected.

[Applause]

So I will end with – I will end with an admonishment and a call to arms. On Sunday, we have an obligation – everyone needs to show up at Pride.

[Applause]

Everyone needs to march in that parade. You need to bring your friends, and your neighbors, and your family. You need to tell people from other states to be here. On Sunday, we send a message to this entire nation – that the way forward for our country is respect for all, inclusion of all. And on Sunday we will show a pride that will be felt from coast to coast.

Thank you and God bless you all.

[Applause]

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