--- title: State of the Union 2015: Transgender description: Obama was the first President ever to use the word "transgender" in his State of the Union. canonical: https://time.com/3675798/state-union-transgender/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-21T03:22:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:44:09.967Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Made History By Using This Word in the State of the Union og:description: It came when he urged "respect human dignity" og:url: https://time.com/3675798/state-union-transgender/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ebf6cc1dc1e7152/69877aed35ba6f09bfc069dd/2015-01-21t021624z_1190695064_tb3eb1l0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3100 og:image:height: 1744 og:image:alt: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner watch as U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 20, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Made History By Using This Word in the State of the Union twitter:description: It came when he urged "respect human dignity" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ebf6cc1dc1e7152/69877aed35ba6f09bfc069dd/2015-01-21t021624z_1190695064_tb3eb1l0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Made History By Using This Word in the State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 21, 2015 3:22 AM UTC  President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 20, 2015. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 20, 2015.Larry Downing—Reuters  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jan 21, 2015 3:22 AM UTC There were over 6,000 words in President Obama’s State of the Union address, but he made history Tuesday night when he used just one of them: transgender. In a section of [the speech](http://time.com/3675705/full-text-state-union-2015/) in which he noted that Americans “respect human dignity,” Obama included the word along with lesbians, gays and bisexuals: --- > “” --- People immediately took to Twitter to note that Obama was the first President ever to use this word his State of the Union. His mention of transgender people in the [widely-watched](http://time.com/3674318/state-union-nielsen-ratings/) annual address comes at [the end of a year that raised unprecedented awareness](http://time.com/3663170/golden-globes-2015-transparent-jill-soloway-leelah-alcorn/), leading TIME’s Katy Steinmetz to wonder if American culture has arrived at the “[transgender tipping point](http://time.com/135480/transgender-tipping-point/).” Obama’s use of the words “lesbian” and “bisexual” were also firsts. This is not the first time Obama has made history with the words in a major speech. He was the first president to [address gay rights](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-invokes-gay-rights-in-inaugural-address/2013/01/21/78bbc410-6409-11e2-b84d-21c7b65985ee%5Fstory.html) during an inauguration during his second inaugural address and the first to [support same-sex marriage](http://swampland.time.com/2012/05/09/obama-endorses-gay-marriage-i-think-same-sex-couples-should-be-able-to-get-married/). _Read next:_ [_Here’s the Full Text of President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union_](http://time.com/3675705/full-text-state-union-2015/?xid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3675798/state-union-transgender/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3675798/state-union-transgender/"},"headline":"Obama Made History By Using This Word in the State of the Union","datePublished":"2015-01-21T03:22:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:44:09.967Z","description":"Obama was the first President ever to use the word \"transgender\" in his State of the Union.","url":"https://time.com/3675798/state-union-transgender/","keywords":["State of the Union 2015","state of the union","Transgender"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ebf6cc1dc1e7152/69877aed35ba6f09bfc069dd/2015-01-21t021624z_1190695064_tb3eb1l0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ebf6cc1dc1e7152/69877aed35ba6f09bfc069dd/2015-01-21t021624z_1190695064_tb3eb1l0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner watch as U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 20, 2015.","caption":"U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner watch as U.S. President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 20, 2015.","creditText":"Larry Downing—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/state-of-the-union-2015/","name":"State of the Union 2015"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3675798/state-union-transgender/","name":"Obama Made History By Using This Word in the State of the Union"}}]}] ```