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Reports: President Biden to Join Elton John at Stonewall for Anniversary Celebration

Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.

Reports say that President Joe Biden will join out recording star Elton John at the Stonewall Inn for the 55th anniversary of the uprising credited with sparking the modern civil rights movement.

The celebration will take place June 28, the New York Post reported, after which the president is expected to headline a fundraising event.

"The White House had teased that Biden, 81, would be in New York for an 'official event' one day after he takes part in the first of two scheduled presidential debates against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump in Atlanta," the Post detailed.

The Washington Times based its own report on that of the Post, noting that the White House had not confirmed that Biden would be in attendance at the anniversary event at the Stonewall Inn.

The Post did not detail the source of its claim.

The fundraising event that will take place later on "will be Biden's first in the city since former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton helped the incumbent haul in $25 million from an event at Radio City Music Hall back in March," the Post recalled. The site added that out entertainers Billy Porter and Alan Cumming are also expected to be at the fundraiser.

Both newspapers noted that Biden's views on LGBTQ+ rights have evolved over the course of his career as a lawmaker, with the president having expressed support for marriage equality while still vice president during the Obama administration – a stance that predated Obama's own embrace of full equality before the law for same-sex families.

The Washington Times also recalled that President Biden signed the "Respect for Marriage Act," a federal law that codifies marriage equality and was passed with bipartisan support following the Supreme Court's rescinding of reproductive rights for women. Members of the Court's conservative supermajority have signaled willingness to re-litigate the question of marriage equality.


by Kilian Melloy , EDGE Staff Reporter

Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.

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