Do you live in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and support the rights of all families? Do you have a child (or a friend with a child) who is seven or younger who might enjoy the White House Easter Egg Hunt on Monday, April 17th? Here's your chance -- in the spirit of this season of liberation and the triumph of hope over struggle -- to speak out for all families, regardless of the sexual orientation of the parents.
The Family Pride Coalition is organizing GLBT families to attend the Easter Egg Roll to celebrate their families. I called their Executive Director Jennifer Chisler and asked, "What if all the families at the Easter Egg Roll were wearing rainbow leis, whether or not the parents were gay? What if the lawn of the White House was a sea of rainbow leis, bandanas, and t-shirts? What if instead of 200 GLBT families the majority of the folks on the lawn, regardless of the sex of their co-parent, indicated their support for gay people to have and adopt children?" (In the interest of full disclosure, the idea came to me from that 1997 Kevin Kline movie, "In and Out".)
YOU can make that happen. Here's my challenge. Go the Family Pride web site and find out how to get tickets. (It means standing in line on Friday night.) If you don't have a child, volunteer to stand in line on Friday night to get tickets for families that do but can't be there. If you are a member of the clergy in the DC area, send out an alert to your congregation. Show up on Monday wearing clerical garb and a rainbow lei. Let people know in the words of my UU bumper sticker that as people of faith we believe, "We are all family and we all have value."
It's Holy Week and it's Passover. Let us send a message that we affirm the dignity and worth of all persons and we recognize sexual difference as a blessed part of our endowment. What better time to speak out for liberation and rebirth for us all?
(And if you go on Monday, send me your stories and photos and I'll post them here!)
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