Suburban Chicago family Jaime Garcia, Daryl Rizzo and their 4-year-old daughter, Siena Rose Garcia-Rizzo, were among the 35,000 people who attended the 134th annual White House Easter Egg Roll April 9.
The theme for this year's event was "Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Move." Attendees were able to participate in sports activities and games, hear stories, watch cooking lessons, hear live musical performances and participate in the traditional Easter Egg Roll competition.
The White House Easter Egg Roll dates back to President Rutherford B. Hayes' administration. Hayes and the first lady, Lucy, invited children to the White House South Lawn for egg rolling for the first time on Easter Monday in 1878. During the Eisenhower administration the first lady, Mamie, opened the event to African-American children for the first time. Over the years gay and lesbian parents and their children have attended the event; however, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have officially included gay and lesbian families in the annual event since hosting their first egg roll in 2009.
The White House contacted LGBT organizations across the country and asked them to identify and invite gay and lesbian families to attend the annual event. The pro-LGBT organization Equality Illinois knew Garcia, Rizzo and their daughter from their participation in Chicago's inaugural civil-union ceremony at Millennium Park last June, and asked them to attend. The couple has been together for 12 years and are active members of Equality Illinois.
The Garcia-Rizzo family recently moved from Chicago to west suburban La Grange. They share their house with Siena's grandmother and three dogs. To be one of many other same-sex couples and their children invited to participate in the White House Easter Egg Roll was a thrill for their family, Rizzo shared.
"The contrast between the previous administration and the Obama administration is stark," said Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois. "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."
"For our daughter, it was all about celebrating Easter," said Rizzo. "For us, it was about celebrating the diversity of our country and the openness of the Obama administration. We were just like any other family at the event, however, we did set out to raise awareness of same-sex families just by being ourselves."
Rizzo said they didn't get to see the first family since they had tickets for later in the day (spending two hours at the event); however, they did get to watch singer Janelle Monae perform. Their daughter participated in the egg roll, and rolled down a hill with other kids in her fancy Easter dress. They also got to meet another lesbian couple and their four children.
"The things that Siena loved the most were the costumed characters, especially Clifford the Big Red Dog, and the Easter Egg Roll," said Rizzo. "Siena had just learned about the president and White House at school, and it was cool for her to see it in person."
As they left the White House grounds, their daughter received a wooden egg to commemorate the event.
