Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise visit Monday to the Stonewall Inn, the Manhattan gay bar where a 1969 uprising is recognized as a watershed moment in the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Harris addressed the crowd gathered at the bar, which has National Monument status, alongside Bravo host and executive producer Andy Cohen.
“We’re not going to be silenced,” Harris said during the Pride Month visit. “We’re not going to be deterred. We are not going to tire. We’re not going to throw up our hands; we’re going to roll up our sleeves. That’s to me what Stonewall means — strength in numbers.”
Much of Harris’ comments centered on the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills being proposed and passed in state legislatures. A report in March found that more than 650 such bills have been proposed, with many seeking to erase LGBTQ+ people from schools and public life, criminalize transgender health care and silence allies.
“I look at these young teachers in Florida [who] are in their 20s, and if they’re in a same-sex relationship are afraid they might lose their jobs,” Harris said.
In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law despite nationwide outrage. The law largely forbids discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in most elementary school classrooms and allows parents to sue school districts in order to enforce it.
Legislation like that “reminds me that we can take nothing for granted in terms of the progress we achieved,” Harris said. “We have to be vigilant.”
The Department of Homeland Security also confirmed in a briefing last month that threats of violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community are on the rise.
“These issues include actions linked to drag-themed events, gender-affirming care, and LGBTQIA+ curricula in schools,” DHS said in a statement.
The Stonewall Inn has faced at least three bouts of vandalism this month, with dozens of Pride Flags ripped down in a recent attack on the historic site.