Elton John dropped an expletive as he railed against anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric onstage with Joe Biden at an event in New York on Friday, prompting the president to react with his hands.
“As President Biden has reminded us, today, too, we face one of those seminal moments,” the legendary singer said at the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in Greenwich Village.
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“Do we stand up for our vision and our values, or let misinformation and senseless scapegoating turn back the clock?” he continued. “No fucking way!”
Biden laughed, applauded, and jokingly made the sign of the cross.
The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center is the first LGBTQ+ visitor center in the National Park Service network. It’s intended to preserve and memorialize the legacy of the Stonewall Inn, the site of the 1969 rebellion that changed the course of the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
In his speech at the opening, which marked 55 years since the Stonewall uprising, Biden said the “soul of the nation was literally tested” by those events.
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“The heart of this movement was ignited and the course of history has changed forever,” the president added. “We remain in a battle for the soul of America. … But I look around at the pride, hope and light that all of you, all of you bring, I know this is a battle we’re going to win.”
John said it was “one of the biggest honors of my life to be here today, having watched what took place 55 years ago.”
More than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the nation this year, in a reality that John called “disgraceful.”