Monday's Easter Egg Roll on the White
House law will include gay families.
Among those attending the 134th
annual event are Jaime Garcia and Daryl Rizzo of suburban Chicago.
The couple will be taking their 4-year-old daughter Siena Rose
Garcia-Rizzo to the event.
The pair, who have been together 12
years, entered a civil union last June.
“Our family is thrilled to
participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll event,” Rizzo said
in a statement from Equality
Illinois, the state's largest gay rights advocate. “To be a
part of a celebration that has been a presidential tradition for over
100 years is an honor. Just as important is the opportunity to
represent a new tradition for the American family, a loving same-sex
household with an adored adopted child. Through the eyes of our
four-year-old daughter, there will be no difference between her
family and the many families she will encounter on the White House
lawn.”
President Barack Obama and First Lady
Michelle Obama have included gay families since hosting their first
Egg Roll in 2009.
“The contrast between the previous
administration and the Obama administration is stark,” said
Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov. “While families with gay
and lesbian parents had to invite themselves into the event during
the Bush years and often felt shunted off to the sidelines, the White
House under President Obama has worked to ensure full involvement of
families with gay and lesbian parents.”
Also attending the event with their
8-year-old daughter are Jarrod Scarbrough and Les Sewell of New
Mexico.
The couple said they will take the
opportunity to call on Obama to sign an executive order which would
ban federal contractors from employment discrimination based on
sexual orientation and gender identity.
“I work for a federal contractor, and
there's a piece of paper sitting on President Obama's desk that would
give me a little more security for my family,” Scarbrough, a United
Healthcare employee, said in a statement.
A
poll released last week showed an overwhelming majority (73%) of
likely voters support such an order.
“As so many families gather on the
White House lawn next week, I hope that the First Family takes a
moment to reflect on how hard gay families like mine work to ensure
that we have the stability and security that so many others take for
granted,” he added. “My message – and the message of my family
– echoes President Obama's campaign slogan: We can't wait. It's
time for President Obama to sign this executive order.”
(A short promo for the event is
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