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file=/c/a/2006/04/14/MNG0FI96PP1.DTL
Lesbian and gay families camp out for egg roll tickets
They plan to use White House event to increase visibility
Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Friday, April 14, 2006
Washington -- This year's White House Easter Egg Roll will
feature an egg hunt, the traditional egg roll, face painting, a
bunny trail obstacle course, magic tricks and readings by well-
known children's authors.
But the event on the South Lawn on Monday morning comes with
something new: More than 100 gay and lesbian families from around
the country plan to attend, part of a strategy to make themselves
more visible as politicians debate new restrictions on same-sex
adoptions and marriage.
"We really feel it's important for the American public to meet
our children, to meet our families in every possible way," said
Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Pride
Coalition, an advocacy group that is helping to lead the effort.
"There are millions of children being raised by gay and lesbian
parents in every part of this country, and this is a good way for
us to highlight those families."
Some conservative critics complain that gay and lesbian families
are using the children's event for political purposes. But the
White House is making no effort to stop the group from coming or
from wearing rainbow-colored Hawaiian leis as a sign of gay
pride.
"It's a great tradition and, like we say, all families are
welcome to attend," said Peter Watkins, a spokesman for first
lady Laura Bush.
Tickets to the event are offered on a first-come, first-served
basis Saturday morning, so dozens of gay and lesbian couples plan
to camp outside the White House visitor pavilion starting at 8
p.m. today. About 250 gay and lesbian families have expressed
interest in coming, and more than 100 families, including several
from the Bay Area, have confirmed they will attend, Chrisler
said.
Critics have derided the effort as "Brokeback Bunny" -- a
reference to the Oscar-winning film "Brokeback Mountain" about
two gay cowboys -- but it could succeed in putting a spotlight on
gay and lesbian families at an event that is heavily covered by
the Washington press corps.
Mark Tooley, executive director of the United Methodist program
at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, helped spark the
controversy by writing a piece in January in the conservative
Weekly Standard headlined: "A Gay Easter?" The story, picked up
by the Associated Press and the Drudge Report, focused on efforts
by the families to "crash" the White House event.
"Basically these groups are using a children's event to make a
political statement," Tooley said in an interview Thursday. "They
could use 1,000 other locations and 1,000 other days to advocate
their point of view.
"It seems to me inappropriate to use a 130-year-old children's
event that, by and large, has not been political despite being at
the White House. It would be nice to maintain that tradition and
make sure that future administrations would not be tempted or
forced to make the egg roll an invitation-only event."
Gay and lesbian families said they have no plans to use the event
to protest or embarrass the Bush administration.
"Our participation in the egg roll is certainly not a political
demonstration or a political statement," said Chrisler, who is
going with her partner, Cheryl Jacques, and their 4-year-old twin
boys, Tim and Tom. "It's just taking our kids to the egg roll to
help the American public see that our families are just like
them."
The annual egg roll has a long tradition. President Abraham
Lincoln is said to have hosted informal egg-rolling parties --
although the first official event was held in 1878, when
President Rutherford B. Hayes let children roll eggs on the South
Lawn after they were kicked off the Capitol grounds because
Congress wanted to protect the grass.
The event has always been open to the public, although in 2003
the White House, citing wartime security concerns, restricted it
to the families of military personnel.
The idea for gay and lesbian families to participate in the event
came from Colleen Gillespie, a New York University professor, and
her partner, Alisa Surkis, a computer programmer, who live with
their 3-year-old daughter, Ella, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and attended
last year's egg roll.
"At the time, there was a lot of negative press about lesbian and
gay families, and my partner and I were feeling pretty
beleaguered and attacked," Gillespie said, citing the debate over
a constitutional ban on gay marriage.
For the couple, the tipping point was when Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings urged PBS not to air an episode of the
children's show "Postcards from Buster" that showed the cartoon
bunny meeting a lesbian couple and their children in Vermont. In
a letter, Spellings wrote that "many parents would not want their
young children exposed to the lifestyles portrayed in this
episode."
"That was terrifying for us. What kind of message does that send
when our daughter goes to preschool? Is she supposed to pretend
that she doesn't have two moms?" Gillespie said. "We thought the
only thing we can do as a family is to go and participate in this
big public family celebration. We thought it would make us feel
better to be claiming our right to be there."
Rainy weather cut short last year's egg roll, but Gillespie said
the best experience was standing in line in the cold waiting for
tickets with other parents, including a mother who homeschooled
her eight kids.
"In no time at all, we were sharing stories about our kids,
sharing blankets," she said. "You can see people start to forget
about you being two moms and just relate to you in a real way."
Despite the criticism from some quarters, the Christian
Coalition, a leading conservative group, said it does not object
to gay and lesbian families participating in the White House
event.
"If it's an open event, it's an open event," said Michele Combs,
a spokeswoman for the Christian Coalition. "If they are
protesting, I think that's wrong. ... If they are just going with
their kids, I don't see where there's a problem with that."
Families who were sightseeing outside the White House, enjoying
sunny April weather Thursday, said they didn't understand the
fuss about gays and lesbians participating in the egg roll.
"Why is that controversial?" asked Lois Kutchera, a preschool
teacher on vacation from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with her husband
and two children. "It seems to me that these are families, and
they are entitled to be there just like any other family."
E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.
--
Lipstick Lesbian
Same sex marriage shirts:
"I'm not her "partner", I'm her wife
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"I'm not his "partner", I'm his husband
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.
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