Civil rights activist and popular drag queen invited to the White House as Respect for Marriage Act becomes law
Thousands of people, including several Coloradans, gathered on the South Lawn of the White House Tuesday to celebrate a milestone in the fight for marriage equality.
President Biden signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law. The landmark legislation mandates that states honor the validity of out-of-state marriage licenses for same-sex and interracial unions.
Joshua Miller, a long-time gay rights activist from Denver, was among those who received an invitation to the event.
'I'm feeling joy. I'm feeling excitement," he told CBS News Colorado from Washington D.C.
Miller says the country has come a long way since he first came out.
"So many people came before me in this fight and I felt like when I came out of the closet I had to take up this fight for gay civil rights." Miller said.
He's done so in part with his drag queen alter-ego "Laura Menorah."
"People are listening to this Jewish divorcee of a drag queen who is going around town telling her mind how it is and people started coming around to the fact that we can really use this as a vehicle to raise money, to raise awareness," Miller said.
Miller has helped raise money for the political campaigns of President Biden and Senator Michael Bennet, along with the LGBTQ community in Colorado Springs, where the Club Q shooting happened.
"Politics can be a lot of gloom and doom and we've got to find our bright spots amongst all the darkness and Laura Menorah helps us do that," Miller said.
Still, she says, she didn't attend the signing ceremony.
"I don't think she would have made it through secret service security with all her jewels and diamonds," Miller said.
She is in high demand in Denver though and Miller says the fight for equality isn't over.
"I'm willing to continue this fight. There's still more we have to do around gay blood donation, gay adoption, housing discrimination," Miller said.
He plans to fight for the passage of the Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in the 28 states that currently offer no protections.
"Now that we've passed the Respect for Marriage Act and signed it into law, you can be married in the morning and kicked out of a restaurant in the afternoon just for being gay."
Miller believes the Respect for Marriage Act is the first step.
"It gives hope, it gives drive, it gives motivation and it helps build resilience in our community. Americans can marry who they love no matter their gender, their sexual orientation, or their race and that's the country I want to live in," Miller said.