President Biden’s ‘Respect for Marriage’ guest list included this Fresno activist and her wife
.JPG "Fresno LGBTQ activist Robin McGehee, left, and her wife Karen take a selfie on the South Lawn of the White House as they wait for President Joe Biden to sign the Respect for Marriage Act, protecting same-sex and interracial marriage under federal law.")
More than a decade ago, Robin McGehee chained herself to the White House fence to protest the federal government’s former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy for LGBTQ service members.
On Tuesday, McGehee was welcomed through the White House gate, where she was invited to attend a ceremony in which President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act, enshrining protections for same-sex and interracial marriage into federal law.
The legislation protects McGehee’s family, she said.
“This bill ensures that if I go home to Mississippi, I’ll always be a full American and able to have my marriage recognized like everyone else’s,” she said from the White House in a phone interview with The Bee. “It’s such an inspiring moment as an American to feel like you can speak out when you see an injustice happen and then be at a culminating event where democracy actually does win.”
The Respect for Marriage Act reached the president’s desk six months after the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, which established federal abortion protections nearly 50 years ago. While that case did not address same-sex marriage, justices commented on other federal protections that could potentially be revisited, including the decision that made same-sex marriage the law of the land.
The act repeals part of the Defense of Marriage Act, signed in 1996, which said states were not required to recognize same-sex unions signed in another state. Every California Democrat supported the act, which was co-sponsored by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Six of the state’s 11 House Republicans were against it.
“Marriage is a simple proposition. Who do you love? And will you be loyal to that person you love?” Biden said. “It’s not more complicated than that. We all recognize that everyone should have the right to answer those questions for themselves without the government interference.”
He thanked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Feinstein and others for their work in the fight for marriage equality.
“The road to this moment was long, but those who believe in equality and justice, you never gave up,” Biden said. “Many of you standing on the South Lawn here - so many of you put your relationship on the line, your jobs on the line, your lives on the line, to fight for the law of about the sign.”
McGehee, who lives in Friant near Millerton Lake with her wife, is a longtime, nationally-recognized activist for LGBTQ rights.
The community college professor helped organize a rally in 2009 that drew thousands to Fresno to protest California’s ban on same-sex marriage under Proposition 8. McGehee also helped lead the National Equality March in Washington, D.C. that same year and cofounded GetEQUAL, a national LGBTQ advocacy group.
McGehee and her wife, Karen Johnston, married in 2015 at their home. They both attended the White House ceremony on Tuesday.
The White House invitation and McGehee’s attendance at the ceremony show that Fresno and its LGBTQ community and activists do have national influence, she said.
“I hope that what Fresno activists know, and people in the community know, is that they really helped kick off the momentum,” she said, pointing out that Fresno’s Meet in the Middle rally sparked the national March and pushed then-President Barak Obama to support marriage equality publicly.
“I believe that in all of those things, Fresno had a definite influence,” McGehee said. “It’s not just me; it’s the people of Fresno.”
Mayor Jerry Dyer’s slogan “One Fresno” is an important message, McGehee said.
“It’s saying that all community members need to be welcomed and invited and included, and the only way that we build a better Fresno is to not have hate and violence be what moves us,” McGehee said. “We need to look at it from the standpoint that love is what is going to make us more of ‘One Fresno.’”
The bill was signed during a spike in violence against LGBTQ people across the U.S., prompting federal lawmakers to hold a hearing this week. Hate crimes, especially against transgender people, have increased by over 40% since 2015, according to national crime statistics.
Locally, an onslaught of reports of homophobic attacks — virtual, verbal and physical — plagued Fresno’s LGBTQ community in the last few years.
Just this past weekend, Fresno police were on hand at the Fresno Drag Festival, an event for young people held at a local church.
The LGBTQ community fought hard to change Dyer’s mind about raising the Pride Flat at City Hall for the first time in 2021.
One year later, local pastors vocally opposed raising the Pride Flag at City Hall. They also voiced outrage over a Fresno Chaffee Zoo event featuring drag queens.
There also was a local church’s losing fight to buy the iconic Tower Theatre, the anchor of Fresno’s most queer-friendly neighborhood, which attracted the support of right-wing hate groups such as the Proud Boys.
In October, Fresno police investigated a possible hate crime in the Tower District after an LGBTQ couple was assaulted after being targeted with verbal slurs.