Biden addresses LGBTQ community in New York City hours after poor debate performance

Amid the clouds of poor debate performance and panic among some Democrats, President Joe Biden spoke Friday at the opening of a visitors center on LGBTQ history in New York City.

Biden addressed hundreds of LGBTQ attendees and supporters, including singer Elton John, actor Neil Patrick Harris, fashion designer Michael Kors and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Courtney Act, at a ceremony to dedicate the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center to mark Pride Month.

“Today, I’m proud to unveil Stonewall National Monument’s new visitor center – the first LGBTQ+ visitor center in any of America’s national parks,” Biden said. “This matters. We continue to fight for the soul of America, but when I look around at the pride, hope and light you all bring, I know we will win this fight and keep moving forward.”

The new center was built to honor the history of the Stonewall Riots of June 1969, at the site of the riots in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Days of protests erupted after a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar and are widely considered a turning point in the modern gay and lesbian rights movement. Friday’s ceremony took place on the 55th anniversary of the riots.

Some LGBTQ attendees said the day was meant to be dedicated to the country’s past, but was clouded by Biden’s poor performance in Thursday night’s debate and anxiety about the country’s future.

“It would be great if the focus was on what happened here, its history and its importance to our ongoing fight for equal rights,” gay philanthropist Robert Denning said, “but it will likely be overshadowed by that.”

Scott Dewey, an account executive for software company SAP, one of the sponsors of the new visitors center, called the debate “humiliating.”

“I really felt sorry for Biden, but at the same time I thought, ‘Oh, are they trying to sabotage him by doing this so soon?'” Dewey, a gay man, said, noting that Thursday’s debate took place several months before the first-ever presidential debate.

“It’s a disgrace,” Dewey added. “He’s too old. He proved that completely last night.”

At a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, hours before his speech in New York, Biden sought to ease concerns about his performance in the debate and energize voters.

“I know I’m not young anymore. I can’t walk as easily as I used to. I can’t talk as fluently as I used to. I can’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I know. I know how to tell the truth!” Biden said, referring to the criticism he received after the debate and that some of former President Donald Trump’s answers were inaccurate.

Adrienne Elim, 34, a freelance videographer at the visitors’ center, called the debate a “panic mess,” but she, who identifies as non-binary and uses “they/she” pronouns, said the center will continue to exist no matter who wins the presidency.

“If you want to focus on this radical debate that happened yesterday, that’s fine, but what’s more important? What’s most important here is honoring the legacy of the Stonewall Riots and the legacy of the LGBTQ community,” Elim said.

Before the debate, about 4 in 10 LGBTQ Americans, who overwhelmingly vote Democratic, approved of how the president was running the country, according to a Gallup poll. Biden’s approval rating was similar among all voters, at 42%, according to an NBC News poll.

NBC News reported earlier this month that the Biden campaign plans to attend more than 200 Pride events in 23 states this month, including all battleground states, to mobilize queer voters. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, has also pledged to spend $15 million in six battleground states to support the Biden campaign, fearing a decline in support among LGBTQ voters.

While some LGBTQ voters questioned the president’s qualifications, hundreds of people at Friday’s event gave him a standing ovation when he arrived and erupted in applause when he recounted an encounter he had with his father as a teenager.

“I remember my dad dropping me off at a pool in Wilmington, Delaware, to get my lifeguard license,” Biden said, “and I got out of the car … and there were two well-dressed men kissing. I’d never seen that before. I looked at my dad. I was 16. I looked at my dad. And my dad said, ‘Joey, it’s simple. They love each other. It’s simple.'”

The president’s appearance at the center comes at a volatile time for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people in the United States, a fact acknowledged by legendary singer Elton John, who introduced Biden. John, who is openly gay, told the audience that more than 500 bills targeting the LGBTQ community have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year.

“As President Biden reminded us again today, we face one of those defining moments,” John said. “Will we stand up for our vision and values, or will we turn back the clock through misinformation and mindless scapegoating? Absolutely not,” he said, as the president made the sign of the cross behind him and the crowd laughed.

The center’s founding partners include Google, Amazon, AARP, JPMorgan Chase and Comcast NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.

Biden’s visit to the visitors’ center follows Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic visit to the Stonewall Inn last year, when she became the first sitting vice president to do so. Biden previously visited the bar in 2019 as a former vice president and then-presidential candidate.

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