Gay parents organize for Easter egg roll

An anti-gay group leader said homosexuals are trying to politicize the event.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
WASHINGTON -- Almost every Easter Monday for nearly 130 years, thousands of kids in their Sunday best have cavorted around the National Back Yard, rolling Easter eggs and collecting goodies on the lush expanse of the White House's South Lawn.
If this conjures up images of an island of innocence where partisan rancor and ideological war are locked outside the gates for at least one day, think again.
This is Washington, where, apparently, even the White House Easter Egg Roll is not immune to politics.
On April 17, hundreds of gay and lesbian parents and their children intend to be among the 16,000-or-so others who attend the free event.
Goals
Organizers say their purpose is not to demonstrate or cause a commotion, but to simply make a "positive" statement by their presence, and to celebrate the fact that an estimated 9 million children are being reared in the United States by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered parents.
"We want to give our fellow citizens the opportunity to see us as real families, participating in a great American tradition on the White House lawn, rather than protesting from the sidelines," the Family Pride Coalition, an organizer of this "family visibility action," says on its Web site, www.familypride.org.
Those who attend will carry no signs but will wear rainbow-hued leis around their necks to identify themselves, Family Pride executive director Jennifer Chisler said.
The National Park Service will distribute the free tickets on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 7:30 a.m. April 15 -- and Chisler said gay rights supporters will be there early to make sure they get enough.
So far, about 200 people have signed up via the Family Pride Web site.
Opposition
That is 200 too many for some anti-gay groups like the Traditional Values Coalition.
"For crying out loud, at the Easter Egg roll? This is a family event," said an exasperated executive director Andrea Lafferty, who called it "very distasteful" and inappropriate to politicize the occasion and to use children to do so.
To her and those who share her view, this is just another example of homosexuals trying to force themselves and their agenda on Americans. "They're trying to cloak themselves in normalcy. It's not normal. The American people overwhelmingly believe it's not normal," Lafferty said.
The White House is shrugging off the controversy.
"It's an event that has a great tradition, and all families are welcome to attend," said Peter Watkins, deputy press secretary to first lady Laura Bush, who is the official overseer of the egg roll.
Officials say they won't alter any of the plans for the six-hour festivities, which traditionally feature a White House staffer dressed as the Easter Bunny, Sesame Street characters, music, 11,000 colored eggs for the egg roll and hunt, another 4,000 eggs that the kids can decorate themselves, and souvenir wooden eggs.
Chisler said her group should not be faulted for tainting the fun with controversy. "Everything that happens in D.C., someone wants it to be claimed political," she said.