Robin McGehee and Karen Johnston are school-girl giddy as they look out at their picturesque foothill property near Millerton Lake and point out the spot where they will exchange vows, the under-construction cocktail bar and the concrete slab dotted with trees where they will dance the night away under twinkling lights.
They are in major wedding-planning mode after a whirlwind romance this past year.
The two women say they are lucky to live in a state where same-sex couples can marry, something they don’t take for granted. In between cake tastings and gown fittings for their June wedding, this power couple — McGehee, a nationally known gay rights activist, and Johnston, a local business owner — continue working toward nationwide marriage equality.
A month ago, the couple and McGehee’s two children — Sebastian, 12 and Jackson, 8 — were in Washington, D.C., where McGehee spoke on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court the day judges heard oral arguments on whether the Constitution protects the rights of same-sex couples nationwide to marry. At the center of the case is whether same-sex marriage bans are legal in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee; 36 states have legalized gay marriage.
