Gay Families to Attend White House Easter Egg Roll . . . Again and Again and Again
The AP reports that President Obama has invited more than 100 gay and lesbian families to attend the White House Easter Egg Roll. The majority of tickets are offered online to the public (and sell out within seconds), but the President reserves a number for special guests. From the AP:
Families say the gesture shows that the new Democratic administration values them as equal to other families. And for many, being included in the annual tradition—dating to 1878—renews hope that they will have more support in their quest for equal rights in matters such as marriage and adoption than under the previous administration.
The AP is quick to point out that this isn’t the first time large numbers of gay families have participated in the Easter tradition. In fact, in 2006, the same number of families—over 100—attended the Bush-administered roll, “in part to make the statement that they should be welcome.”
Now, the sentiment is different, “more celebratory,” says D.C. resident Leah McElrath Renna, who “attended the event in 2006 and 2007 with her partner Cathy McElrath Renna and their now 3-year-old daughter, Rosemary.” The AP notes that “Rosemary is particularly excited to see the Easter Bunny again and already has planned her outfit: A yellow polka-dotted dress and a new straw hat with a pink band.”
Wait a second— Rosemary is particularly excited to see the Easter Bunny “again”? This three-year-old kid is going for the third time?
I’m all for extending warm invitations to gay and lesbian families, but aren’t there any other gay and lesbian families we could invite?
I understand the first two times were kind of lame because Bush was still in office, and gay and lesbian couples were going “in part to make [a] statement,” but let’s not forget the other part: You go to the Easter Egg Roll for your kids, who are more interested in like, rolling the fucking eggs. How about we let some other kids have a chance at rolling the fucking eggs?
Photo by donnamarijne
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9:23 am
Amanda -
Next time you decide to call out an innocent 3 year old for derision, you might want to do two things: 1) get the back story and facts straight and 2) focus on the parents and leave the child out of it.
Our family attended the White House Egg Roll in 2006 and 2007 because my wife, Cathy, and I own a communications firm, Renna Communications, that represents Family Equality Council. FEC is the advocacy organization that coordinated having a number of families headed by lesbian and gay parents to attend the Egg Roll as a group.
Due to our efforts on their behalf, we were able to garner media attention that constituted the largest media visibility event for lesbian and gay families in history. We helped put a face on the issue of our existence at a time when others had declared outright war on us to further their political ends.
Fwiw, all of us earned our tickets the old-fashioned way for those years’ events: by staking out a place in line in front of the ticket distribution center and camping out overnight (in the snow and rain) on the Ellipse for a chance to collect a few of the limited tickets available.
This year, the Administration changed the ticketing process to an online one (first come, first serve) and also held a number of tickets aside for distribution to a diverse set of groups. I don’t know all of the details, but my understanding is that 2000 tickets were distributed to military families and 2000 tickets to families of children in certain DC Public Schools. And, yes, a number of tickets were distributed to organizations that represent the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans and our families (far less than 2000 by anyone’s count).
If you are truly interested in commenting on sex and gender in DC, then I admire that goal. Cathy and I have been activists around issues of sexism, gender, and LGBT rights for about 60 cumulative years.
However, I fail to see how your superficial snarky attack on our daughter contributed toward any meaningful end.
I wish you and yours the best of the season.