President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill designating Pulse nightclub as a national memorial on Friday.
The bill arrives a little over five years after the deadly massacre claimed the lives of 49 innocent partygoers inside of Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
“Just over five years ago, the Pulse nightclub, a place of acceptance and joy, became a place of unspeakable pain and loss. And we’ll never fully recover but will remember. May no president ever have to sign a monument like this.”
The president was joined at the White House by survivors and loved ones of those who perished, members of the Congressional Equality Caucus, First Lady Jill Biden, and Florida Congress members. Placed behind them were names and pictures of the victims who died.
The bill designating the National Pulse Memorial passed unanimously both in the Senate and the U.S. House.
The Bidens hosted a Pride Month reception in the East Room with church leaders, LGBTQ+ advocates, Congress members, and state and local elected officials after the bill was signed. The event took place in a White House ground-floor hallway illuminated in rainbow hues for the first time as part of a Smithsonian LGBTQ+ exhibit.
