Tuesday, December 10, 2013

President Obama speaks at Nelson Mandela memorial


The Washington Post has published a full transcript of the president's remarks at the funeral of Nelson Mandela, which includes a reference to LGBT rights.  

Here's the excerpt:

It is a question I ask myself - as a man and as a President.

We know that like South Africa, the United States had to overcome centuries of racial subjugation. As was true here, it took the sacrifice of countless people - known and unknown - to see the dawn of a new day.

Michelle and I are the beneficiaries of that struggle. But in America and South Africa, and countries around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not done. The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality and universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before, but they are no less important.

For around the world today, we still see children suffering from hunger, and disease; run-down schools, and few prospects for the future. Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love.


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