Comments on: Gay Families to Attend White House Easter Egg Roll . . . Again and Again and Again http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/04/08/gay-families-to-attend-white-house-easter-egg-roll-again-and-again-and-again/ Sex and Gender in D.C. Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:24:38 -0400 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Leah McElrath Renna http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/04/08/gay-families-to-attend-white-house-easter-egg-roll-again-and-again-and-again/comment-page-1/#comment-4974 Leah McElrath Renna Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:23:47 +0000 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/?p=3485#comment-4974 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. 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.

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