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 Gay Families Prepare For White House Egg Roll
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: April 3, 2007 - 1:00 pm ET
(Washington) More than one hundred gay and
lesbian families have signed up to take part in this year's annual White House
Easter Egg Roll - twice the number that had signed on this time last year.
The annual event on the White House lawn Monday is open
to the public.
Thousands of tickets - an
estimated 16,000 last year - are given away on a
first-come-first-come basis beginning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
National Park Service officials
said that children of all ages may attend as long as there is
at least one child 7 years old or younger, and no more than
two adults per group.
Last year Family Pride, a
national organization that advocates for gay families
encouraged gay and lesbian parents to bring their kids to the
Roll. About 50 families signed up on the Family Pride website
and more than 100 showed up for tickets.
Wearing rainbow-colored leis as
a unifying symbol they joined the thousands of other families
whose children searched for eggs hidden on the grounds,
despite a driving rain.
Publicity surrounding last
year's Roll angered social conservatives pushing for a federal
constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, calling it a
publicity stunt and a protest.
But Family Pride maintained it
was not a protest - there were no signs and no chants - just
the rainbow leis.
First lady Laura Bush's office
issued a statement to quell the conservative protest saying
all families are welcome to attend.
Mrs. Bush and the President
posed for pictures - but only with the families of White House
staff.
By the time the gay and other
families got in the President and First Lady had left in what
was seen as a move to avoid having their pictures taken with
gay families.
This year a Family Pride
contingent will begin standing in line Friday night at 7:00 pm
in order to secure early tickets to participate in the Roll.
"We believe that by
participating fully and openly in time honored traditions like
the Egg Roll we can help the American public come to know our
families," the group said in a statement.
"Last year’s Egg Roll
was an amazing time and, for one weekend, this country was
introduced to our families on a grand scale. And in addition
to educating people about our lives, we had a great time
rolling eggs, meeting amazing children’s characters and
participating in a wonderful family celebration."
The egg roll has been a
Washington tradition since the mid-19th century. Children use
spoons to push colored eggs through the grass in a race. Past
events have included petting zoos and White House staff
members in bunny costumes.
©365Gay.com 2007
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