It rained in Washington this morning, giving an extra bit of hope to gay and lesbian families that a rainbow might cast an inclusive ray of light over the White House lawn where the president, Mrs. Bush and the Easter Bunny greeted thousands of youngsters gathered for the annual Easter egg roll.
Alas, it was not to be all that.
Hundreds of gay families organized to attend this year's event to make the point that yes, Mr. President, gay families are part of this country, too. Many waited in line overnight to ensure they would get tickets to the iconic American family tradition held on the president's lawn since 1878, but a last-minute logistics change made by the White House caused the early-bird gay families to miss out on the opening ceremonies. 
Event hostess Mrs. Bush, who previously had announced that "all families are welcome to attend" in response to the the pre-event gay buzz, was long gone by the time the gay and lesbian families (read: second-class citizens) were allowed entrance at 11:00AM, two hours after the start of the event.
Our pals at PageOneQ have a good scoop on the turn of events, including some song-and-dance answers from the White House press office about the hare-raising time change.
Event organizer and executive director of the Family Pride Coalition Jennifer Chrisler (pictured below, far left, on the White House lawn with her family), didn't acknowledge the change in ticket times. 
"We're just so happy to be participating in this national event, and we are thrilled to be a part of this national tradition," she told PageOneQ.
The "gay families are part of America" message got a lot of press attention -- mostly in the months leading up to today -- so perhaps Family Pride did accomplish their goal in raising the visibility of gay families.
It's a little disingenuous for Chrisler to ignore the fact that the White House served gays some rotten eggs. But the real shame-on-you lies with the people to whose (White) house we gay folk were all invited today. We believed waiting in line was fair. We believed in equality for gay families.
So did we get punked by a bunny on Bush's behalf? You tell me.
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11 comments:
I feel that yea Bush did turn the event into a gay and lesbian free for all. If a gay/lesbian couple came they were given different tickets and that shows a drastic rise in homophobia. He needs to look around and see that the world is drastically changing and if he doesn't change with it, he won't be up in the polls anytime soon.
IS ANYONE REALLY SURPRIZED BY THIS OBVIOUS INTENT TO DISCREDIT THE VALIDITY OF GAY FAMILIES. BUSH IS SUCH A BIGOTED JERK IN THIS AND EVERY OTHER MATTER.
There is no such thing as a "gay family." Family, by definition, is a father (male) and a mother (female) and their children (by birth or legal adoption.
Period.
As his reputation precedes him, yes, all gay/lesbian families were left in the shadows on this one. But why should this time be any different? Maybe in the future, we'll learn from our past mistakes and remember that we were stupid once-let's not be again!
~Marni
It does not surprise Me the small minded Prez. and His Feeble constipated Wife (Laura) turning their backs on the "Gay Families" on the Easter gathering. All I know is that in 25 years in the History books our current President will go down as the "Worst President" in U.S. History.................
MUCH A DO ABOUT NOTHING WORTH SAVING FOR OUR CULTURE. HUNT EGGS IN HOLLAND, AMSTERDAM TO BE SPECIFIC.
thats fukked up gay ppl are being treated differnt even tough bush is gay himself
this was all wrong they have rights to
Look, I don't know why anyone would expect anything different from those Texas hicks. Closed minds don't open gates (@ the White House) or doors of opportunity for those that are not like Ms. Betty Crocker Bush & Co. Bigots will be bigots and thats that. But just remember--everybody has to face God and I sure would like to be there to hear how they explain themselves when the time comes!
Of course the rabbit punked us... darn rabbit d**ks don't always have to be for chicks!
i think it is very rong because the GAY Parents should have been in the egg roll traditional Avent at the same time as every one else and i think george bush is a very mean person for allowing that to happen i mean come on what is the difference in makeing blacks ride in the backl of the buss and not letting gays in to a president traditional party i mean how low and how meaningless can america get towards there own kind i mean sereiously we are soupost to raise our children "GAY" or "Straight" to love and to be be a good person in the big world but what are you "GAY" or STRAIGHT" teaching you children when you tell some one else you are different and you dont want them around you or you tell them that they are going to hell for being the way Jesus Christ him self made them and i think this wourld has a lot of other more important things happening that should be delt with and i think people like our president in such a good possition to protect america adn i think he meaning the president has done such a great job because he has done a lot for our country but i also think how could you be a person that leads america when GAY PARENTS CHILDREN TEENAGERS MOTHERS FATHERS are americans too but yet they cant get married and now you tell me how would you feel if you where straight and some one told you you cant get maried and you cant adopt children because it wasent ok with them.... in gods eyes iu am shure he see's us all the same.
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