When Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says outrageous things in committee hearings, California Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat, rebuts and holds her accountable at every turn. His first year in office has been marked by a dedication to calling out what he sees as extremism and lies from “MAGA Republicans,” mainly targeting figures like Greene, the noted transphobic firebrand who often spews anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry and absurd conspiracy theories.
When she made derogatory remarks about out former Twitter executive Yoel Roth during a hearing, in which she said that he “disgusts” her, Garcia came back with gusto.
“I just want to start off by just apologizing to our witnesses, particularly Mr. Roth, for just the homophobic rant and comments that were just made from the gentlelady from Georgia,” Garcia said, calling her remarks “shameful.”
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In an era when political discourse seems more divided than ever, and Americans find themselves yelling at their televisions, wondering why some politicians get away with some of the things they say and do, Garcia stands out for his approach to governance and advocacy.
Joining the U.S. House in 2023 as the incoming class president with a background as the mayor of Long Beach, Garcia, 46, has navigated the tumultuous waters of Congress with a clear focus on LGBTQ+ rights and immigration reform, helping boot George Santos (the gay liar and indicted former congressman) and fighting against Republican misinformation. As one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Equality Caucus, he takes his role of representing the LGBTQ+ community seriously, he says.
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Garcia recently sat down with The Advocate to discuss his role in navigating the seat of American power as the first out gay immigrant elected to Congress as the 2024 presidential election looms.
In his words, Garcia’s transition from mayor to the U.S. House of Representatives was a shift from “leading a large organization where it’s about bringing people together and solving people’s daily challenges to here where it’s so dysfunctional.”
The dysfunction, however, hasn’t dampened his spirit; he says it's sharpened his resolve.
As he finds himself in the historic halls and iconic hearing rooms, Garcia notes the stark contrast in values held by many of his colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
“Half of the people don’t think that immigrants or gay people should have any rights or any humanity,” Garcia says, scowling.
For that reason, the several-times-over indicted Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December after an Ethics Committee report revealed his lavish and inappropriate spending, was so offensive to Garcia, the congressman says.
“With George Santos, obviously, for me, it felt especially important for another gay person, a gay Latino, to call out someone that I thought had no business being in Congress,” Garcia explains.
Garcia was the first lawmaker to force a congressional vote to expel Santos in May, but that vote did not result in the Long Island lawmaker’s removal.
At the time, Greene, who ultimately voted against Santos’s expulsion, refused to support the measure, which Garcia understands was not an act of allyship.
“[F]or someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene, she’s one of the most extreme voices against our community,” he adds.
Right after his election in November 2022, Garcia told The Advocate that he was committed to holding Greene and other right-wing extremists in Congress to account.
In January 2023, when appointed to the House Oversight Committee, Garcia wrote on Twitter, “I just got appointed to the House Oversight Committee. You can bet that I am going to take on and push back on Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert’s bullsh*t every single day.”
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He is currently the only Democratic member of Congress to sit on all of the same committees as Greene: Oversight, Homeland Security, and Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Garcia’s most notable battles have been against the rampant misinformation, “fake” impeachment obsessions, and outright hostility toward the LGBTQ+ community from some of his congressional colleagues.
Republicans have voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and opened an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden with no good reason, and Garcia has called attention to the illegitimacy of the efforts. In July, when Greene showed nude photos of Biden’s son Hunter during an Oversight Committee hearing, Garcia called her out.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene is literally showing dick pics at our Oversight Hearing,” he later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
He has been particularly vocal about his confrontations with Greene, whom he accuses of spending “half her time demonizing trans people” and spreading lies.
In May, Garcia introduced the Honoring All Families resolution as a direct reaction to Greene’s remarks that a lesbian union leader wasn’t a real mother as the stepmother of her wife’s two children.
Garcia vividly recounts a chilling encounter that solidified his perspective on Greene’s character.
Reflecting on a visit to the D.C. jail alongside Greene last March, he describes the surreal experience of witnessing her interaction with incarcerated insurrectionists. Garcia recalls being one of the few Democrats among a predominantly Republican group on the trip tasked with observing. As he entered the jail cell and beheld the insurrectionists awaiting trial for their roles in the Capitol siege, Garcia observed Greene engaging with them in prayer, “giving them hugs and high-fives.”
“There she is, aiding and abetting insurrectionists,” he says, exposing her true character in a manner that he found “dangerous and scary.”
Last week, Garcia called Greene “insane” after the Georgia Republican stormed out of a committee hearing when Garcia pointed out how friendly she was with insurrectionists during the jail visit.
Garcia’s approach to these confrontations is deeply personal, rooted in his history as an immigrant, a gay man, a son who lost both of his parents to the “very real” COVID-19 virus, and a lover of comic books. He parallels the battles he fights in Congress and the classic struggle between heroes and villains depicted in comic lore.
“I grew up reading comic books. That’s how I learned English,” says Garcia, who immigrated from Peru as a young child and became an American citizen in his 20s. He was sworn into office with personal documents, the Constitution, and an original Superman comic book on loan from the Library of Congress.
“I’ve been a comic book fan and collector my entire life,” he says, likening his stand against figures like Greene and others who spread misinformation and hate to a superhero’s fight for truth and justice. “I very much identify with [that dynamic],” Garcia explains.
Garcia has introduced bills focused on LGBTQ+ rights, immigration reform, and environmental policy, emphasizing the importance of standing up for the most marginalized.
Garcia reintroduced the International Human Rights Defense Act in 2023, which would advance LGBTQ+ equality worldwide. By prioritizing LGBTQ+ rights in U.S. diplomacy and establishing a special envoy within the State Department, the bill seeks to institutionalize efforts to prevent and respond to human rights violations against the LGBTQ+ community.
In January, Garcia demanded a quicker response from the Department of Defense to resolve cases of LGBTQ+ people dishonorably discharged from the military under the former “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and the outright ban that preceded it.
Beyond the legislative work, Garcia’s commitment to calling out extremism and lies in politics is a central aspect of his mission in Congress, he says. He is particularly critical of the way some Republicans have continued to do Trump’s bidding, particularly when it comes to launching an impeachment investigation into Biden without cause.
“Donald Trump is a liar and a criminal; [he] should be nowhere near the presidency,” Garcia says.
Garcia’s jabs in Congress have gone viral several times. For example, in January, he referenced Heather Gay, a star from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, in his criticism of Trump during an Oversight Committee hearing to highlight that a House Democratic staff report recently revealed that Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million in foreign payments from 20 countries during his presidency.
“What do we have as Democrats? We have receipts, proof, a timeline, screen shots. We have everything we need to prove conclusively that foreign governments were funneling money through Trump Properties and into Donald Trump’s pockets, all in violation of the Constitution,” Garcia said in a moment that went viral.
Garcia sees his role not just as a lawmaker but as a defender of truth, drawing again on his comic book analogy: “I think being such a fan of comics has given me a real clear view of what is good and what is bad and what’s evil.”
One of the villainous characters is the new, ultraconservative Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, according to Garcia. Garcia expresses his concerns about “MAGA Mike,” referring to him as the most socially conservative speaker in modern times.
“He doesn’t believe that gay people should ever have any rights,” Garcia notes, also questioning Johnson’s effectiveness as a leader and highlighting his inexperience and tendency to align with extreme voices within the MAGA movement. Garcia remains committed to challenging him.
“He’s very much against our community, and so I will continue to call him out,” Garcia says.
He is adamant about the dangers of allowing misinformation to go unchallenged, especially when it comes from figures with significant influence. “We can’t get lazy about calling those out,” he says, underlining the importance of a united front against the spread of falsehoods.
Garcia’s public statements and actions go beyond political affiliation. It’s about protecting the fabric of democracy and ensuring that every individual feels represented and safe regardless of identity, he says.
“First of all, it has to be all of us or none of us, and the trans community is part of our community,” he says. “They are also the most attacked and smallest part of our community.” Garcia’s conviction in the necessity of solidarity shines through as he rejects any attempt to exclude or marginalize transgender people, labeling such attitudes as incompatible with decency.
He adds: “There is no LGBTQ+ community without the T and the Q. They are part of our community.”
Garcia says he’s heard members of the GOP who are supportive of some queer people but not others.
“There are some Republicans in the House that I’ve heard say, ‘We’re OK with being gay or lesbian or bisexual, but not transgender.’ That’s just bullshit,” he says.
Garcia says that for right-wing extremists, going after trans people is just about bullying. “They want to bully the smallest group, the most vulnerable group, the group that has the most challenges often in society, and it’s our job to stand up for them.
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