On April 25, Whitman College senior Lita Bacus and her now “wusband,” alum Fi Black, walked down a dental-dam blanketed white carpet to a flowered altar where they exchanged “I do’s” and “dyke” rings. Their wedding was officiated by President Sarah Bolton in the Olin Breezeway. 

The couple invited all of Walla Walla to witness the ceremony, which doubled as a performance art piece for Bacus’ senior art thesis titled “Queerly Beloved.” Bacus said her influences for the piece were the Riot Grrrls, who are known for their reclamation of the lesbian slur, “dyke,” and the Guerilla Girls, an anonymous group of feminist artists and activists who have been in operation since the 1950s. Bacus wrote a zine to accompany the wedding-and-performance-art-thesis, which she said was visually inspired by the works of Barbara Kruger. 

In anticipation of the ceremony, Bacus sent out emails inviting all of campus to her “Big Gay Wedding.” 

“This piece is a performance, a protest and a celebration,” one email reads, “It’s about claiming (and holding) space, demanding visibility, queer love, survival, and celebrating something beautiful in the midst of everything going on in the world right now. It’s also a legal ceremony. I’m getting married — for real! Read more about it in the zine HERE!”

“My main role, as I saw it, was to make sure that the ceremony was official under Washington State law, and also to celebrate the marriage of this wonderful couple whose life together started here at Whitman,” Bolton wrote to The Wire in an email. 

Bacus said that the “stars aligned,” because the date of her senior art thesis presentation fell during lesbian visibility week and near the ten-year anniversary of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that protects gay marriage as a fundamental right under the 14th Amendment.  

During the Trump Administration’s second term, the United States has become increasingly hostile towards the LGBTQIA+ community. As a political strategy, the Trump administration has used anti-queer policy to exacerbate what many have called the “culture war.” These policies include rolling back trans health care protections and protecting politicians attempting to force gay marriage into extinction. 

In the zine, Bacus cites “recent rhetoric” against gay marriage as a reason for making her wedding a protest. One example listed in the zine is a late 2024 social media post from Josh Schriver (R), a Michigan state representative. 

“America only ‘accepted’ gay marriage after it was thrusted into her by a perverted Supreme Court ruling … Make gay marriage illegal again. This is not remotely controversial or extreme,” Schriver wrote. 

Wedding attendant and Whitman senior, Rocio Lybarger-Yanes, said that witnessing the ceremony felt like a celebration and a “giant fuck you to Trump admin.”

“I felt so overjoyed because, well I’m the child of queer parents, and I was alive when [gay marriage] was legalized. I remember the rush and the urgency to get to the courthouse. As cool as it is to be able to do this on college campuses within a few years, with the Trump administration this is active resistance. I also thought that this is the most fucking queer shit ever. To open this up to anyone who wants to come, and whoever wants to experience this and witness it, it’s such an inclusive, communal energy,” Lybarger-Yanes said. 

The dress code was “dyke decadence.” Bacus wore an ankle-length black and grey wedding dress that she sewed herself. The fabric was designed by Black. With Bacus’s help, Black runs a Walla Walla-based fashion brand called Dykemint, which graced the runways of New York Fashion Week in February. Black donned a white suit with Dykemint’s logo sprawling Andy-Warhol style in pinks and blues. 

“We met at Whitman in the sculpture studio as sculpture techs,” Bacus wrote. “We didn’t start dating until the next year, but we first met while listening to Kate Bush while Fi was making their giant beetles for their own art thesis. Even though Fi graduated a few years ago, Whitman still holds a specific place in their heart. As a fellow art major, they were totally on board with the idea from the start.”

It seemed as if all of Walla Walla’s young punk and queer scene was in attendance. The couple sells their one-of-a-kind Dykemint pieces at The Grove, a punk show venue in town. 

Across the two pews that lined the walls of Olin’s breezeway, the couple had written, “dykes are sacred,” “dyke love is holy,” and “sapphic saints.” Instead of flower petals, the couple had their bridesmaids sprinkle dental dams along the white runner, upon which the “wusband” and bride processed towards the altar, together.

Reporting for this article was contributed by Isabel Mathy and Natalie Comerford.