A Conversation With Gay Activist Robin McGeheeToday's gay marriage march and rally in Fresno, California “Fresno” redirects here. For other uses, see Fresno (disambiguation). Fresno is the sixth-largest city in California and the county seat of Fresno County, with an official Census Bureau estimated population of 481,035 as of July 1, 2006. is the brainchild of Robin McGehee. She spoke exclusively to Charlotte Robinson, the woman behind the website that features interviews with prominent gay rights activists, OUTTAKE VOICES. Marchers participating in the Meet in the Middle for Equality march departed from Selma and converged on Fresno's City Hall about 1PM. Police were expecting between 3,000 and 5,000 people in Fresno. McGehee's vision to build support for marriage equality from the center of the state runs counter to last year's campaign that focused mostly on liberal coastal cities like San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Fresno was chosen to kick off the new campaign because its middle-town experience is more representative of California values and voters, McGehee said. Gay marriage opponents have decried the event, saying coming to the Central Valley is akin to likening lik·en tr.v. lik·ened, lik·en·ing, lik·ens To see, mention, or show as similar; compare. [Middle English liknen, from like, similar; see like2 it to the segregated South and warned that the effort might backfire. “[Supporters are] coming there to stick it in the face of people who know what is good and natural,” Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a group that opposes gay marriage, told 'The Fresno Bee'. “They want to make a spectacle of how dark and stupid they think Central Valley residents are.” “I think it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to push the envelope,” McGehee told Robinson, an Emmy-Winning documentarian doc·u·men·tar·i·an also doc·u·men·ta·rist n. One that makes documentaries or a documentary. . “It takes courage to stand up in my own community and fight back, behind enemy lines – you know very 'yes on 8,' very homophobic ho·mo·pho·bi·a n. 1. Fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men. 2. Behavior based on such a feeling. [homo(sexual) + -phobia. , very religious right territory,” she added. Last year, 69% of Fresno County voters voted in favor of Proposition 8, the ballot measure that placed a gay marriage ban in the state constitution. “We will not ever get a 60% 'No On 8' vote in Fresno, but I can guarantee you we will move [new supporters], and we will move in the direction we need to,” she said. On the Net: Listen to the entire audio interview at OUTTAKE VOICES. 
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