Carrie and Elisia Ross-Stone are lesbian grandmothers who rode their bicycles across the country, twice, to advocate for marriage rights before it was available anywhere in the United States.
They first showcased their peddle power in 2003.
Yep, about 12 years ago, the duo cycled across the country—with a dual purpose: educating the United States and activating the LGBT community, as well as changing the hearts and minds of some people who opposed LGBT rights, on the basis of incorrect information and false stereotypes.
"We did have a few rough spots and disagreements along the way, but we kept in mind the goal: to get to the end of the ride and to accomplish our mission," Carrie said.
They even got married on Sept. 23, 2003, between their cross-country rides, when Canada passed marriage equality.
Carries is now 59; Elisia is 60. They spend the summer in Buffalo, New York, and the winters in Florida. They are the owners/operators of Rainbow Law, which has been providing legal protections and estate planning information to and for the LGBTQ community since 1993.
"The time has gone by so fast and we've made so much more progress than we ever could have imagined," Carrie said. "As we rode through towns and cities, even when we didn't have an event, we had to stop for food, for gasoline, bicycle maintenance, to wash our clothes or to camp, [and] we always told people who we were and why we were riding. Although this did cause a dust up now and then, because we were pretty innocuous-looking women in our late 40s [at the time], we felt pretty safe and were able to engage quite a few folks in lengthy conversations about LGBT legal rights. We believe these conversations, which we had in every state we rode through, may have made the biggest impact of all as we actually had people tell us these talks made them really reconsider what they'd come to believe was true and right about the issue. In other words, we changed their hearts and minds just by introducing ourselves to them as who we are."
Their first ride started in St Augustine, Florida, on March 1, 2003, with Carrie's son, Colin McGrath, driving their support vehicle: a blue 1992 Ford Conversion Van pulling an 18-foot fiberglass camper that they painted with rainbow-colored ducks.
"The night before we left we had our first speaking event—at the Jacksonville Unitarian Universalism ( UU ) Church, where we had a great send-off and were able to speak to a group of about 50, who came to meet us and hear about our journey. It was very encouraging," Carrie said.
Highlights from their first ride were:
—Meeting Florida state Sen. Arthenia L. Joyner;
—Speaking at the University of Southern Mississippi;
—"After we rode from western Louisiana into east Texas, we experienced a very scary afternoon when two young men in a brown pick-up truck tried to run me and Elisia off the road," Carrie said.
—It took more than three weeks to ride across the state of Texas, which included numerous stops en route.
—In Las Cruces, New Mexico, they spoke at a UU Church "beneath a beautiful stained glass window commemorating founding church member Clyde W. Tombaugh," Carrie said.
—"As we rode into San Diego, we were met by a group of LGBT cyclists about 20 miles outside of town who rode with us along the Ocean Beach Bike Path until we got to our destination: the Pacific Ocean, where we were met by cheering supporters, members of the media and a bottle of champagne," Carrie said. "Like we did in St Augustine, we jumped off our bikes, took off our shoes and ran into the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. It felt amazing that we had finally made it."
—Their final event on their first ride was on May 15, 2003, at the San Diego LGBT Community Center.
Their second ride-across-America went from San Francisco to New York, kicking off May 2, 2004, in Golden Gate Park.
"By the time the event happened, the California Supreme Court had ordered [then-San Francisco] Mayor Gavin Newsome to stop issuing marriage licenses, so everyone was pretty disappointed that our original plan—to stage a mass wedding—was thwarted," Carrie said. "But still, we had a great party with Equality California and an amazing send-off.
"Prior to the start of the second ride we were contacted by Keith Wilson, a San Francisco-based filmmaker, who wanted to film a documentary about our ride. He flew to Tampa to meet with us before we drove to California and he started filming us at the Golden Gate Park kick-off event. Keith not only filmed our ride, [but] he doubled as our support vehicle driver.
"We left the park on our bikes and headed first to the Pacific Ocean, under the Golden Gate Bridge, to do our traditional dip in the ocean before riding. Then we actually rode across the bridge, just for the hell of it, and back again, to start our ride west toward Sacramento."
Some of their ride two highlights were:
—An event in Reno, Nevada, with a diverse group of liberal-leaning organizations who were working together for progressive change, Carrie said. There were groups representing Latinos, African-Americans, labor unions, Native Americans, Democrats … and the two riders, representing the gay community. "We gave our usual talk about why we all needed to stick together and not let the right drive a wedge between us, that we needed each other's support to overcome their agenda. Not sure how well some of the leaders of the organizations received us, but the audience seemed particularly open and responsive," Carrie said.
—In Colorado, they went to the office then-Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, the main sponsor of the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. "We held a rally and delivered a card we made earlier that day with photos of our families and expressing our dismay at her uncalled for, hurtful actions," Carrie said. Musgrave did not come out to see them; they left the card on her doorstep.
—In Wyoming, they met friends of Matthew Shepherd and saw where he was left to die. "It is difficult even now to describe what that experience was like," Carrie said. "The fence where he was tied was gone, but another nearby acted as a make-shift memorial for other visitors who tied ribbons on it and laid flowers beneath it." Elisia found a large rock in the area and picked it up. On the side that was facing down someone had written the word "forgive." Carrie said finding that rock, with that message "was incredible." All that were with the two started to cry.
—Meeting Topeka ( Kansas ) Mayor James McClinton.
—Being protested against by Fred Phelps and members of the Westboro Baptist Church.
—In Springfield, Illinois, "The community of Springfield had the most spectacular series of events planned for our stop. In fact they were calling it 'the event of the year,'" Carrie said. "In addition to speaking on the steps of the Illinois State Capitol building, we had a picnic sponsored by the Heartland MCC Church, the Prairie Flame magazine and CORAL. We also spoke at the Phoenix Center. All told we spent three days in Springfield [and] while we were there, we kept hearing talk of a very popular [Illinois] Senate candidate named Barack Obama. Everyone we met loved him. Later that summer we watched the Democratic National Convention and heard him give a speech that gave us chills. We became supporters of Obama as soon as he stood on the same Capitol steps to announce his bid for President."
—They had a speaking event at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. "Since I am from a small town outside of Pittsburgh called Mars, the local paper published an article entitled, 'Lesbian Grandmother's from Mars' about our ride. Later, the filmmaker used that title for the documentary about our ride.
—In New Paltz, New York, Mayor Jason West was issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
—The New York City Council presented them with a proclamation at City Hall.
Will there be a third ride across the country? No doubt, they said.
Originally, it was planned for 2005, but it was postponed.
But the two are now in the planning stages for a Seattle-to-Boston ride within the next two years—and likely with a new mission.
"Since we feel as though we were successful in changing hearts and minds about marriage equality at a time and place where that seemed impossible, we may want to try our hand at talking about human-caused global-climate change from the perspective of two ordinary people who have been pushed out of their home by fracking," Carrie said. "In short, about five years ago, the fracking industry moved in and started drilling horizontally into the Marcellus shale for natural gas, ruining our water wells, the roads and polluting the air."
