{"id":673,"date":"2026-06-08T15:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=673"},"modified":"2026-06-08T15:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T15:44:18","slug":"president-joe-biden-makes-surprise-visit-to-phillys-stonewall-awards-celebrating-lgbtq-icons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=673","title":{"rendered":"President Joe Biden makes surprise visit to Philly\u2019s Stonewall Awards celebrating LGBTQ icons"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>President Joe Biden made a surprise appearance at the annual Stonewall Awards in Philadelphia on Sunday, delivering a 20-minute speech to a packed crowd in Center City.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=671\">The first Black woman to win a Barrymore for directing a musical is now going to lead Theatre Horizon<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The award ceremony, which began in 2022 by Philadelphia Gay News founder and publisher and participant in the 1969 Stonewall rebellion Mark Segal, recognizes those in the region advancing the LGBTQ rights in Pennsylvania. This year\u2019s speakers, including Biden, took a moment to celebrate the decades of civil rights battles that led to Philadelphia becoming a cultural hub for queer people, but warned that the fight is only getting harder.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhat I don\u2019t think straight people understand is that you have risked a hell of a lot and it\u2019s taken enormous courage to stand here today. You risk your jobs, your families, and your very lives for the cause of equality,\u201d Biden said. \u201cWe need that courage today more than ever before. The fellow we have as president right now is not having a very positive impact on anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>State Rep. Malcom Kenyatta, who is a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, surprised the crowd made up of LGBTQ organizations, media, and community members at the Arts Ballroom in the heart of the Gayborhood when he walked up to the stage with a trail of Secret Service agents and the 46th president. The ballroom erupted with cheers as the audience gave the duo a standing ovation. \u201cI decided to bring a friend with me,\u201d Kenyatta said to the crowd.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Biden delivered prepared remarks but wasn\u2019t shy about straying away from what he prepared to speak from the heart, said Segal, who witnessed the police assault on the Stonewall Inn in 1969, a moment credited for spurring the modern queer civil rights movement. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s the magic of the Stonewall Awards. You\u2019re in a room with people who want to feel unified and it\u2019s a struggle out there these days thanks to the current administration,\u201c Segal said. \u201dThis is the day that we get to celebrate ourselves and celebrate where we are and to say, \u2018We\u2019re never going back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The president shared stories of his granddaughters fearing for their gay friends as the White House pushes policies that strip rights from LGBTQ people.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=669\">Duke Lacroix\u2019s soccer career has taken him from Penn to Haiti\u2019s World Cup team<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cEven though we made enormous progress, as we continue to make the final run here, progress is going to get tougher and the other team\u2019s going to get rougher,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Segal said the Stonewall Awards have brought local leaders and celebs like Gov. Josh Shapiro, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, and <i>Abbott Elementary<\/i> star Sheryl Lee Ralph to its stage in prior years. But Biden was a big surprise, said Jacen Bowman, the president of Philly Black Pride.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t know Biden would be there, but once we saw Secret Service, we knew something was up. After his speech, he walked right over to our table and spoke to my mom about the award I won and it was amazing,\u201d Bowman said, whose mother is still elated over meeting the former president.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Bowman received his second Stonewall Award on Sunday as he and his fellow organizers grow the organization\u2019s cultural impact on the city and beyond. Bowman\u2019s work hopes to not only bolster the community in a time of increased threats, but also highlight those who may get left out of the picture through murals like creating <i>Finally on 13th,<\/i> a celebration of Philadelphia\u2019s underground ballroom culture, and remembering icons like the late Stacy Blahnik, a transgender woman and icon in the local ballroom scene whose murder is still left unanswered more than a decade later.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI love Philadelphia and being honored for my work in the city that has made me, broken me, and uplifted me \u2014 I\u2019m so grateful,&#8221; Bowman said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Councilmember Mark Squilla and the Philadelphia Visitors\u2019 Center received awards for their contributions to LGBTQ advocacy. Alex Niedbalski-Sykes, the co-founder and president of the Philadelphia Sisters, an organization that vows to bring more professional women\u2019s sports teams to the city, especially after a WNBA team arrives by 2030, also took home an award.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=667\">Daryl Morey teams up with Philly-born chess master Jennifer Shahade at Rittenhouse Chess Club\u2019s charity tournament<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Biden accompanied State Rep. Malcom Kenyatta, who introduced the former president. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-philadelphia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>President Joe Biden makes surprise visit to Philly\u2019s Stonewall Awards celebrating LGBTQ icons - Corporate Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=673\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"President Joe Biden makes surprise visit to Philly\u2019s Stonewall Awards celebrating LGBTQ icons - Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Biden accompanied State Rep. 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