Obama Warns White House Pride Month Crowd: History Can Move Backwards On LGBT Rights [VIDEO]

USA Today reports:

President Obama told gay rights activists Thursday that they need to be vigilant to continue the progress they’ve made over the last eight years of his presidency.

“Together we’ve proven that change is possible, that progress is possible,” he told a reception for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activists at a White House reception — the eighth and final such event of his presidency. “It’s not inevitable, though. History doesn’t just travel forward. It can go backwards if we don’t work hard.

“So we can’t be complacent,” he said. “Securing the gains that this country has made requires perseverance. It requires vigilance. And it requires voting.”

As unfinished work, Obama cited higher rates of AIDS among gay men, employment discrimination, hate crimes and global persecution.

In the United States, Obama said the law is catching up to changing attitudes. “You know, when you talk to the upcoming generation, our kids — Malia, Sasha’s generation — they instinctively know that people are people, and families are families. Discrimination — it’s so last century. It doesn’t make sense to them.”

The video below is from the official White House YouTube channel.