Interim memorial on site of Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Declaring “we’ll never fully recover, but we’ll remember,“President Joe Bidenhas signed a resolution to designate a national memorial on the site where a mass shooterkilled 49 people at the gay nightclub Pulsein Orlando in 2016.
“May … no president ever have to sign another monument like this,” Biden said at a bill signing ceremony Friday.
TheonePulse Foundation, the nonprofit group behind the push for a memorial, praised the step as “a clear and lasting message to the LGBTQ+ community that what happened at Pulse matters and will never be forgotten for future generations, and that we will always outlove hate.”
President Biden signs the resolution to designate the National Pulse Memorial.NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty
Design for the National Pulse Memorial in Orlando.OnePULSE Foundation
Proposed museum that anchors the winning design for the National Pulse Memorial in Orlando.OnePULSE Foundation
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But the foundation’s mission includes more than just the building, and last month it announced $236,300 in its second annual class of 49 “Legacy Scholarships” to recipients for academic and career study that reflect the array of passions and interests of the 49 victims.
The national memorial designation — which comes without the promise of any federal funding — establishes the Pulse site as an LGBTQ landmark alongside the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco and the Stonewall Inn in New York City, which is considered the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement as the place where patrons fought back after a 1969 police raid on the gay bar.
Unlike the Trump administration, Biden, who has nominated LGBTQ persons to several top posts, has made LGBTQ rights a priority, including with his support for the Equality Act to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination, reportsReuters. Also unlike Trump, he earlier issued a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month.
source: people.com
