WHAT: Kevin Webb & Jeshawna Wholley, students of both Morehouse & Spelman College, have been summoned by request of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, via The Human Rights Campaign to attend the first-ever reception at the White House in celebration of LGBT Pride Month (Washington, DC, June 22, 2010).
WHO: Kevin Webb & Jeshawna Wholley share numerous titles: Black, Openly Queer, Members of the Atlanta University Center, Human Rights Activists, and Event Coordinators; however, the most important one that they happen to have in common is the fact that they are both decent human beings. Furthermore, they have used that trait as the driving force behind the work that they have done at both Morehouse College & Spelman College. As the Cooperative President of Morehouse College Safe Space, along side his Morehouse Brother and Fellow Cooperative President Daniel D. Edwards, Kevin Webb has been on the frontline of the LGBTQ Movement at Morehouse College for the past year. As the President of Afrekete, the LGBT Organization at Spelman College, Jeshawna Wholley has dedicated the last year of her life toward fighting LGBT injustices and rallying support for Womanist Causes. Through both events and countless interviews with National Publications and Radio Programs, Webb and Edwards, along with the invaluable help of Wholley, directly challenged the "Appropriate Attire Policy" at Morehouse College-- a policy that serves to discriminate against the LGBTQ community at the institution.
On November 6th, 2009, Wholley made history as the Creator of "WERK": The Appropriate Attire Drag/Fashion Show, the Grand Finale of the first-ever Pride Week At Spelman College-- a week of significant cultural events and a first for the institution. "WERK" was the first Drag Show to ever take place at an HBCU and was heavily attended.
And in March of 2010, Webb made history, as a Co-Creator of P.R.I.D.E. Week at Morehouse College-- a historical first for the institution. The week was remarkably successful and boasted the controversial "Out & In The Spotlight: Panel Discussion" featuring the Androgynous Media Maven, himself, B. Scott. The event, which took place on March 23rd, 2010, drew more than 500 attendees: including the President of Morehouse College, Robert Franklin.
Since then, Webb and Wholley have served as featured guests on "Power Talk with Lorraine Jacques-White" the top-rated Atlanta Morning Radio Show on 1380 AM. They have also done a number of in-depth interviews through StoryCorps that air on National Public Radio and will land in both the Library of Congress and the newly-constructed African-American Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
WHERE: The White House (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500)
WHEN: Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010; 5:00 pm (Eastern Standard Time)
WHY: "LGBT Americans have enriched and strengthened the fabric of our national life. From business leaders and professors to athletes and first responders, LGBT individuals have achieved success and prominence in every discipline. They are our mothers and fathers, our sons and daughters, and our friends and neighbors. Across my Administration, openly LGBT employees are serving at every level. Thanks to those who came before us the brave men and women who marched, stood up to injustice, and brought change through acts of compassion or defiance we have made enormous progress and continue to strive for a more perfect union.
Much work remains to fulfill our Nation's promise of equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment. I am also committed to ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" so patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal.
As we honor the LGBT Americans who have given so much to our Nation, let us remember that if one of us is unable to realize full equality, we all fall short of our founding principles. Our Nation draws its strength from our diversity, with each of us contributing to the greater whole. By affirming these rights and values, each American benefits from the further advancement of liberty and justice for all.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2010 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by fighting prejudice and discrimination in their own lives and everywhere it exists.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth." -BARACK OBAMA
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