The White House on Thursday postponed a planned Pride Month Celebration on the South Lawn due to air quality concerns caused by wildfires raging across Canada.
The White House has rescheduled the Pride event for Saturday, when forecasters predict a shift in the winds that will impact “all levels of the atmosphere and bring in cleaner air.”
The the Environmental Protection Agency warned Thursday morning that wildfire smoke would continue to affect large portions of the Eastern United States throughout the day, creating dangerous air quality and low visibility. Hundreds of flights across the U.S. have also been disrupted by the smoke and haze from the more than 430 Canadian wildfires.
While the Pride Month Celebration has been postponed, President Biden did unveil new initiatives on Thursday to protect LGBTQ+ communities.
The initiatives are aimed at safeguarding LGBTQ+ communities from hate-triggered violence, help young people with mental health issues and homelessness, and also to counter the recent record high number of book bans in the U.S.
Biden was set to discuss the initiatives at the event, which the White House had said would be the largest Pride Month celebration ever held there.
