Gay Families Attend White House Easter Egg Roll Hoping for Eggs, Workplace Protection Executive Order

One of the great American Easter traditions, along with lying to children about bunnies and discounted candy on Monday, is the White House’s Easter Egg Roll. Allegedly, the event began in 1814 with First Lady Dolley Madison, and pretty much ever since it’s been a way for the White House to connect with the common people of America while at the same time espousing the current administration’s values. For instance, this year’s Easter Egg Roll “theme” is “Let’s Go, Let’s Play, Let’s Move,” which echoes Michelle Obama’s longtime campaign for healthy eating and exercise choices. Easter Egg Rolls have also marked social progress; the event was opened to black children for the first time during the Eisenhower administration, and in 2009, the Obamas opened the event to same-sex families.

This isn’t the first time gay families have attended the Easter Egg Roll, however. In 2006, during the Bush administration, gay families attended the Easter Egg Roll as well — but as an “organized presence,” in protest of their treatment by the President and his supporters. Although they were some of the first people in line, the gay families who attended were given entry times for midday, well after the Bush family had left. Six protesters showed up to counter-protest the gay families’ statement with messages like “I am fed up with the homosexual agenda. It makes me want to vomit. And it makes God want to vomit.”

The Obama’s approach to dealing with same-sex families for the Easter Egg Roll — explicitly inviting them — is a hallmark of how different the Obama administration is from the one before it. The fact that the administration considers it important to differentiate itself in this way is another hallmark — they actively want to be perceived as pro-equality, and be associated with same-sex families, not associated with the movement against them. Which is why one same-sex couple, Jarrod Scarbrough and Les Sewell, are taking this opportunity to ask Obama to step up and back same-sex families even more fully. They’ll be attending the Egg Roll today with their eight-year-old daughter, and with the mission of asking Obama to sign an executive order that would ban federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation. Scarbrough works for a federal contractor, and his family would have a lot more security if he knew that whatever risks his job security suffered, sexual orientation wasn’t one of them. Recent polls show that 73% of Americans would support passing an executive order like this.

Activists have been pushing for a workplace protection executive order for months now, arguing that it falls into a long tradition of presidents using executive power to give employees rights that the normal legislative process is too slow to provide. Scarbrough and Sewell’s move today also falls into a long tradition of the White House Easter Egg Roll, ostensibly an opportunity for children to play on the White House lawn and for the President and First Lady to have some photos taken with their kids, serving as a kind of milestone for social progress and our fits and starts towards equality in America. It’s more likely that Scarbrough, Sewell and their daughter will head home with a commemorative White House keepsake egg than an executive order, but if the Obamas have invited us and our families to spend time with them — and they have — then they’re also going to hear about what we need from them to keep our families safe and secure.

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Rachel

Originally from Boston, MA, Rachel now lives in the Midwest. Topics dear to her heart include bisexuality, The X-Files and tacos. Her favorite Ciara video is probably "Ride," but if you're only going to watch one, she recommends "Like A Boy." You can follow her on twitter and instagram.

Rachel has written 1140 articles for us.

278 Comments

  1. Funny thing is… Easter bunny is more believable than the chances of gays going to Heaven BUT LESS BELIEVABLE THAN MY PASSION FOR PUDDING POPS


    this comment has been respectfully edited by the editors to more accurately reflect its intent

  2. Nice article Rachel!

    It’s absolutely right that if Obama wants to be associated with a movement that’s about justice & love and that is finally winning (!!) he needs to do the work. And we should be pointing that out. Loudly.

    (Usually I don’t comment, but the daft troll who’s clearly been lurking on AS (hey, we might rub off on him if he stays long enough!) needed to be balanced out.

    He doesn’t even go here…)

    • On this, the holiest of days, lezz all worship at the altar of Regina George/Mean-Girls-isms…and also Ellen

  3. Hey William…funny thing is…the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Toothfairy are all more believable than the existence of your homophobic, intolerant, and tyrannical God.

  4. it is so sad that the gay/lesbian community is so desperate for acceptance that they are willing to sell out and pander to the liar-in-chief… if you think he is actually on your side, you are 2dumb2live AND I AM A BUCKET OF PUDDING

    this comment has been respectfully edited by the editors to more accurately reflect its intent

    • Yet, by all accounts under his term of presidency America has seen the Mathew Sheppard and James Byrd Jr. Hate crimes prevention act into law, the legalization of same sex marriage in numerous states, the declaration that the defense against marriage act is unconstitutional, allowed trans americans to recieve true gender passports without surgery, the start of the end of DADT and hes strengthening the enforcement of same-sex hospital visitation rights and decision making, Your so right John Smith… I’m sure so many queer Americans are wishing they voted for McCain now… Meanwhile in Russia.

    • John Smith, The gay/lesbian community is not selling out, it is the liar-in-chief that is selling out to the gay/lesbian community to get a few more votes. He has not fulfilled all that he promised them. Obama is trying very hard though. He said that the Supreme Court should not overturn overturn (ObamaCare) a law that has been passed with a substantial majority by a democratic elected congress yet he is asking the same court to overturn the DOMA law which was passed with a much greater support.

      • Support in Congress does not equal Constitutional legality, which is what the Supreme Court decides when considering cases. And if you’re going by Supreme Court precedent DOMA should be overturned when it’s heard by the Court.

    • Ok, I really hope the bucket of pudding thing is a respectful edit, because it made me laugh out loud. A lot.

  5. Perversion, all animals on earth shun homosexuality, except a few humans AND KILLER WHALES

    this comment has been respectfully edited by the editors to more accurately reflect its intent

    • Actually, Bubba, you could not be any more wrong. Most animal species exhibit homosexual tendencies. Do your research before sounding like a buffoon. Humans are the only species that has a moral problem with it, as some are conditioned as tools of the reigning religions. Good little tool… now don’t ever think for yourself or form your own opinions – do what you are told and life will be easy for you…. Everything is *under control* lol.

      • I learned this little tid bit of info ^^ on AS, I’m thinking man if you would just calm down and read a bit more, the articles on this website are both informative and sexy, why hate on that…are you afraid?

    • this comment made me angry, but in the words of destiny’s child ‘You know I’m not gon diss you on the internet cause my mama taught me better than that’

    • Bubba you got it wrong again. There are LOTS of animal species where homosexual members are born into it, but only ONE species that has members that CHOOSE to be homophobic: Homo Sapiens (That’s HUMANS for the Fox News viewers playing along at home.)

    • Hey Bubba! Would you like a free copy of And Tango Makes Three (based on a true story)?

    • And it was here that I realized all of these trolls are the same person. Maybe change up your all-caps fetish once in a while, friend.

  6. How does a website like this, and an article like this, come up on Google News top stories? Autostraddle? Really?

  7. Bob – thanks for pitching in. But, but… easiest not to feed the trolls. AS editors, can you just get rid of the off topic stuff? (not having checked the moderation policy I’m not sure, but I love Rachel’s writing & would rather just see genuine comments below the line).

    This is maybe why it’s so important that couples like Scarbrough and Sewell speak out. Hate has a naturally shouty voice, while those of us more into love/kittens/fairness tend to be more ….. perhaps ‘polite’ is the right word. However, when – despite massively increasing support – lgbt people (perhaps especially the T part!) are told to wait nicely for other bills to be passed, for a president to change his mind at his own sweet pace, for people to be more ‘comfortable’ with treating us equally, it’s time to get loud. As far as I’m concerned, equal rights isn’t about straight people feeling comfortable around gay people (welcome though that is).

    It’s not about the feelings of straight people. It’s about the lives, bodies, jobs, relationships and families of lgbt people.

    Ahem, rant over. Back to my coffee.

  8. have you ever seen a dog before? Dogs lick each other’s junk all the time, boy, girl, they dont care. It doesn’t matter. It seems that the most homophobic among us end up being the kinkiest people out there.

        • You dare to pontificate about “the science of psychology” when no reputable psychologist, psychiatrist, medical doctor, nurse, social worker or researcher makes the bogus claims you are?! You’re not only a pathological liar and a closet case, you’re an idiot on top of it.

          • Define ‘reputable’

            For homosexuals, a psychologist is only ‘reputable’ if they do not acknowledge homosexuality as a psychological disorder. The mere fact that homosexuals, any of them, can be converted back to heterosexuality belies the assertion that you deem this to be impossible simply because in your mind, you cannot find a way to reverse the same-sex attractions that you yourself may feel.

            this comment has been edited by the editors to include a picture of a hot dog

          • The fact is: there is no science or research that supports the idea of homosexuality-as-a-disorder. That is merely a statement of your fool prejudice. And when heterosexual people can demonstrate that THEY can change their sexual orientation and magically become homosexual, then and only then will I entertain the possibility that I could change my sexual orientation.

          • You still have not commented on the existance of pfox.org

            Your logic precludes the ability for homosexuals to reverse their same-sex attractions, but it is a fact that this has been documented. So you would then say that everyone on pfox.org is a liar? You only acknowledge facts when they suit your position, but you discount them when they do not fit into your theory about sex as you see it. True science does not seek to force the sun to orbit around the earth, but rather to prove that the earth orbits around the sun. Homosexuals are not the center of the universe just because they wish it to be so. IN FACT, THEY ARE THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, AND PEOPLE LIKE ME ARE JUST LUCKY TO SHARE THE AIR.

            this comment has been edited by the editors to more accurately reflect frank’s feelings about the earth’s orbit

          • Absolutely, EVERYONE at pfox is a liar. They are desperately chasing acceptance and approval by buying into the heterosexist agenda for the benefit of their tortured souls. If we supported and nurtured our gay kids as they should be, they wouldn’t be drawn to such pathologically perverted self-hate organizations such as pfox.

        • this is why religion and politics can never be a democracy, how about the oh so many passages in the bible that talk of compassion, loving thy neighbor, it is Gods place to judge Frank, Not yours, we live happy, fulfilling lives with partners who we love and are loved by in return. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken, moral absolutes have no place in dictating what should be accepted in society. your Freudian arguments are not only outdated but laughable.

          • You live happy lives, yet you yearn for ‘approval’ for your lifestyle just as much as people yearn for oxygen just to stay alive. If you were so happy, there would be no ‘gay rights’ movement. It is because you are unhappy that you even have a ‘gay rights’ movement. So in actuality, you are not happy and this is evident in the fact that you chose to love someone that you could never procreate with, and have thus entered into a genetic suicide bond with your partner so as to terminate your lineage at a point whereby you could no longer advance it through the love of your mate.

          • The supreme irony here is that every single one of the organizations out there advocating for “traditional marriage” and the normalcy of heterosexuality are expressing a desperate desire for “approval” and acceptance — in a very twisted manner. It is normal for human beings living together to desire acknowledgement and acceptance. If there were no discrimination and hatred of the type you are demonstrating here, there would be no gay rights movement.

          • My personal opinion is that heterosexuals are not addressing the advent of homosexuality in the appropriate context. The few heterosexuals that have scientific proof that homosexuality is a dysfunction, are withholding this proof because the science behind it can be weaponized. I do not believe that this science should be suppressed, so I blame the governments for being cowards by forcing this science to be kept secret. In the interum, people like Mr. Pand who is threatening me with physical harm and cursing my mother simply because he hates himself, are being forced to endure substantial psychological dysfunction for the sole benifit of the state.

          • You’re a deluded, disordered nutcase, Frank. Your ideas are laughable. You’re desperate for acceptance and being perceived as “normal” because you’re unable to deal with your homosexual feelings.

          • i like the authority that comes with Mr. Pand, I’m going to refer to myself as that in third person… Mr. Pand goes downstairs and explains the name change to her mother.

          • no, civil rights and approval from people like yourself are so far on the other ends of the spectrum that theres no point in even justifying an appropriate argument. there is a ham sandwhich right now that is far more worth my time then this discussion.

          • If you are an unhappy homosexual, i can see how pork could help alliviate some of your discomfort. You should launch a new campaign directed at all homosexuals that are disturbed by their actions and refuse to get treatment.

            “Got Pork?”

            I SURE DO!! LOOK, IT DANCES:

            this comment has been edited by the editors to contain more pork

    • No, Frank, it’s the opposite: “heterosexuals” who lie and obsess about homosexuality, and go out of their way in attempts to demonstrate how much they are NOT gay, are the real pathological, self-loathing closet cases. Look in the mirror.

      • I have never had a homosexual urge in my life, but I attribute that to a proper psychological sexual development rather than being ‘born’ heterosexual. No one is born with sexual urges. They are developed over time, and thankfully, mine developed according to the role that my genetalia assigned to me at birth, thereby completing my sexual psychology and allowing me to pass that stage of my development without being limited to a disorder. I simply feel bad for others that have stagnated at an ‘immature’ stage of sexual development and have chosen to remain their as a lifestyle due to the fear associated with overcoming such a limitation.

    • Homophobia (or being a hateful, useless douche), is a psychological dysfunction similar to being stuck in time, a long time ago. The problem is that when certain homophobes support and defend homophobia as a valid lifestyle, they are doing more harm to everybody than they are doing good. A religious leader that encourages a homophobe to ‘act hateful’ is not someone that I would like to see leading a church, synogogue, mosque, etc. When a person has the fortune of developing his homophobia without encountering any limiting love to skew them into decent or christ-like behaviours, it seems disingenuous for that person to then turn around and promote the dysfunction of homophobes so as to prevent them the ability to overcome their dysfunction and lead normal, loving lives. All homophobes should wish upon stars, because I don’t think your hate’s gonna be allowed into heaven, buddy. If you are a religious person that endorses homophobia, then you are not pure but rather a mean extremist at best. I find it peculiar that many religious people that endorse homophobia as a valid lifestyle still refuse to also engage in critical thought. Generally, people only do things that they themselves approve of, even if they are not assholes, so my only explanation for that is that any religious person that endorses homophobia, has SUBCONSCIOUS ATTRACTIONS TO THE DEVIL that they are not admitting to.

      • Phobia indicates fear. I have no fear, so therefore your comment does not apply to me. I am homo-repulsed, which is different than homo-phobic. Feces does not scare me, it repulses me. I can touch it if i need to, like when changing a babies diaper if necessary, but I don’t gravitate towards it nor do i seek to encounter it and play with it during sex acts. So homophobic and homorepulsed are two different categories of people. I am homorepulsed, and that is the proper term to describe my position on the topic. Homosexuals are homophobic when they seek to force others to give them moral support for their cause, so in fact, homosexuals are actually the largest, identified group of homophobic people that exist. They themselves have fear that what they are doing is wrong, but for them it is subconcious and manifests in their desire to seek approval from others.

        JUST LIKE THIS HOT DOG!

        this comment has been edited by the editors. the editors have edited this comment while openly weeping on their keyboards, petrified of frank’s failure to accept our sexual orientations

        • Au contraire, Frank, I have no fear that what I do with my girlfriend is wrong. To me, the thought of touching a man is wrong.

          • So basically, what you are saying, is that you are heterophobic? Lemme guess “no i am not scared of men i just dont like them!” Yet when a heterosexual male states he is not attracted to other men, he is automatically “homophobic” and every other name under the sun. Obviously, in order for you to develop a same sex attraction, something in your psychology has deemed the thought of touching a man to be “wrong” but you have not expressed why you consider it to be wrong when indeed you are a woman that can only procreate with a sperm donor. So are you saying that being artificially inseminated with sperm for purposes of having a baby that you can then share with your lesbian mate is “wrong?” So you deem it wrong to have a sexual attraction to a man, but you will accept a man’s sperm someday so that you can have a baby if you somehow develop the need to have one. To each his own. I have no hatred towards homosexuals, lesbians or anyone. If you don’t want to grow up, it is entirely your choice, but there is a difference between being gay and advocating it as a non-limiting lifestyle. I have no doubt you feel same sex attraction, but where I draw the line is when gays try to convince other people (without any scientific proof in the form of egg+egg=baby or sperm+sperm=baby) that it is not limiting. All i am saying (and this is a fact which no gay can deny) is that you cannot ever procreate with your same-sex soulmate, and as a result you will never experience that joy that only heterosexuals can achieve when they procreate with their opposite-sex soulmate.

          • No, that’s not at all what I’m saying. I have no fear of touching a man, I can give hugs to and peck my closest male friends. Sexually touching them, however, feels entirely uncomfortable to me, much as it would feel uncomfortable for you. It’s not wrong, and I don’t lambast my hetero friends for having sex with males, just as I feel you shouldn’t rail against me for not wanting to have sex with males and instead doing it with females.

            I also don’t deny that I can’t procreate with my same-sex partner, that would be blatantly false. I would be happy if that were a possibility, however I don’t have a desire to carry a child so it’s not a primary concern to me.

          • Frank has probably left the conversation by now, but I wonder what he would have to say to a heterosexual couple in which the woman is sterile? There are thousands of couples who physically cannot procreate together (or choose not to), and yet we still let them marry and have the same rights as all of the other heterosexual couples. What about them? What about a woman who marries a man after she has gone through menopause? Certainly there is more to marriages than the ability to procreate with your “opposite-sex soulmate”, isn’t there? Since their are other joys and benefits to marriage, why can’t same-sex couples enjoy these things as well?

            We shouldn’t have to resort to name-calling to win this debate. There are many obvious answers to why same-sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples and I have yet to find a compelling argument against this that is not rooted in religion. Since we live in a country that separates church and state for obvious reasons, can we please solve these problems now and move on already?!

          • frank was a troll just trying to get a rise out of everybody, not a genuine person. he succeeded! anyhow, he’s been blocked from the website now so i guess you could say he “left the conversation.”

        • Repulsion = phobic response. It’s an overreaction, and it’s based on your anxiety. Thanks for sharing.

      • Once you deviate from heterosexuality, you will find an infinate number of ‘sexual orientations’ that you wish to validate. I remember that back in the day, there was only gay and straight. Today you have LGBT communities. Tomorrow you will have ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ communities and it will never end as you will only start to create new letters to accomodate all the possible ways that a heterosexual can deviate from heterosexuality. It is a progressive deterioration of sexuality once you make the decision that heterosexuality is not the only viable form of sexuality. Then when you cant seem to force a heterosexual to acknowledge that any deviation from homosexuality is dysfunctional, you start to call them names and call them ‘homophobic’ or ‘closet homosexualt’ and any other term that actually applies to yourself. I myself am no homophobic, which is why I take the time to treat them and convert them back to heterosexuality. All homosexuals are homophobic because of the mere fact that they demand support and endorsement from others for their lifestyles because it allows them to feel less fearful about the path that they have chosen.

        • Here you are, desperate for my support and endorsement of YOUR alleged hetero- “lifestyle”. Furthermore, I have ***never*** “deviated from heterosexuality” — because I was never heterosexual to begin with. Unlike you, I have remained true to my sexual orientation from childhood.

          • Mark, with all due respect your arguments have been bang on the nail. But i think now should be the point where we stop entertaining his bile with replies.
            Frank, you sir are a douche.

          • When all logic fails, just call people names. That is the last bastion of comfort for any homosexual that cannot justify their behavior as anything other than laziness. Many times we tell children “grow up.” All homosexuals are trapped in the traumas of their childhood and refuse to “grow up.” Just because that girl rejected you as a child, does not mean you have to take it out on the whole female population. Just because your uncle or camp counselor molested you as a child does not mean that what they did made you any less of a man. Just because your mother was the dominant personality of your two parents, and was overbearing or overnurturing of you without bounds, does not mean you cant again reclaim your manhood. It only requires effort and a will to cure yourself, and it can be achieved. Notice that not once did I start quoting leviticus and the bible and all of that, because it is really not relevent to the science behind it all.

            this comment has been respectfully edited by the editors to more accurately reflect its intent

          • Homophobic men may indeed be aroused by homosexual porn, but not homorepulsed men. Homorepulsed men are actually not capable of achieving an erection while watching homosexual porn, and that is the category that I fall into. What is even more interesting is that my previous comments were removed despite my not having said anything wrong, which leads me to believe that this site is a pro-homosexual website that seeks to suppress alternate opinions. I have encountered this phenomena before, which is why I print out the comments section everytime I make a comment, in order to see which of my comments are later removed. I then assemble the original comments that were removed into my book documenting the dysfunction of homosexuals as proof that they merely seek to suppress opinions that make them doubt themselves. So I have heard all this nonsense before about how gay porn arouses ‘homophobic’ men, but in reality, the arousal is only occuring because they have not yet solidified their heterosexuality as I have. So again, there is a difference between homophobic and homorepulsed. I am homorepulsed, and homorepulsed people are not capable of achieving an erection at the thought of sex with the same sex, animals, or inanimate objects. They are only capable of achieving an erection or sexual arrousal at the thought of sex with the opposite gender. I am sorry to tell you that this is not a dysfunction, but the normal goal of a heterosexual’s sexual development. EXCEPT SOMETIMES I FEEL REALLY ATTRACTED TO MY TOASTER, AND ALSO TO PUDDING

            this comment has been respectfully edited by the editors to more accurately reflect its intent and to look better in frank’s commenting scrapbook

          • I also noticed that someone on this website inserts a hotdog graphic in comments that are not ‘progay’

            Like I said, grow up. If you post an article about homosexuality and then seek comments, it is rather childish to remove posts that are not offensive in any way, simply because you seek to repress opinions that are not favorable to your cause. It is also rather childish to insert a graphic in some posts to mock them in an effort to distract the public from the message behind the post. Children are in charge of this website. Grow up.

          • It seems like you might have a really strange computer virus. You should probably run your Norton. Make sure you enable the “remove my hate” feature before you run the scan.

          • I dont hate homosexuals. Imagine a psychologist that hates schizophrenics. It would be a contradiction in terms. You seek to be a psychologist to treat people with disorders, and not to hate them. I dont hate anyone. I am simply entitiled to my opinion which is based upon science and reality. So far on this forum I have been threatened with death, called names, had my posts removed without any justification, have been called phobic and hateful, and all this for simply implying that I do not agree with homosexuality. On this forum alone I have aquired nothing but support for the position that homosexuality is a psychological disorder, because my comments should not have illicited such a response from normal, balanced and stable people, as homosexuals claim to be. The proof is in the pudding, and not that fudgepacking pudding that you guys seem to be so attracted to, AND REALLY, I CAN’T BLAME YOU BECAUSE WHO DOESN’T LOVE A NICE SNACK-SIZED CUP OF FUDGEPACKING PUDDING? I’LL TELL YOU WHO. THIS GUY:

            this comment has been edited by the editors to look better in frank’s commenting scrapbook. the editors would also like to add that generally we prefer clam-diving to fudgepacking, but to each hir own

          • Frank, may I point out that a website for queer ladies is maybe not the best place to espouse your views. The internet is FILLED with dark corners specially for people like you to be hateful. So don’t complain when we put dancing hotdogs in your posts- you’re in our backyard. Please play nicely.

            Hope you had a nice Easter. I hear He died for everyone, no clause saying “except people Frank disagrees with”. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, you should go take a think on it.

          • man up Frank i didn’t threaten you with death i threatened to take your mother dorothy mantooth out for a nice seafood dinner then never call her again.

            AS team can i please have a hotdog?

          • man up Frank i didn’t threaten you with death i threatened to take your mother out for a nice seafood dinner then never call her again.

            AS team can i please have a hotdog?

          • First of all, I do not go out seeking websites belonging to gay people to comment. I was on google news, saw the article, and commented. You want your views and website to be public, but you also do not want it to withstand public scrutiny. You state “The internet is FILLED with dark corners specially for people like you to be hateful”

            I have not said anything hateful. Your mind percieves it as hateful when in fact it is not, just like your mind causes you to percieve you can be devient in your sexuality without harming yourself and others, when in fact you can never procreate with the one that you love no matter what you do. Egg+egg does not equal baby, and sperm+sperm does not equal baby. Only egg+sperm can result in offspring, so you can never procreate with the one that you love, and that is the limitation of homosexuality that you claim does not exist. The day you can create a healthy baby by combining two eggs, is the day I will revise my scientific model to account for a possibility that homosexuality is not a limitation. Dont be a hater yourself, because all the replies to my posts have been full of real hate, including death threats. Grow up, and if you want to be on the internet, be respectful to the public opinion or else you will lose your legitimacy as a movement based upon sound scientific principles (as if you ever were one).

        • You’re no psychologist. You’re a disturbed closet case, desperate to prop yourself up… straight. DO you have a license to practice psychology? I would like your license number, because I would report your fool ass to your state licensing board and to the APA for ethical and practice violations of the profession. Whenever you’re ready.

  10. Great article Rachel – I really love how the Obamas have really made the effort to make the Whitehouse and their events super inclusive! Also, I realllllly want a Whitehouse Easter Egg!

    • I pray for you all. He will forgive if you ask…
      God Bless you

      this comment has been respectfully edited by the editors to more accurately reflect the author’s state of mind

    • It’s like Autostraddle threw a party and invited everyone but only our drunk, homophobic uncles showed up.

      • The hot dogs really improve things. It makes all of this hate almost funny.

        I actually think all of this trollin just means that autostraddle is getting bigger and attracting more attention, so really it’s a good thing sort of.

    • I really want a hot dog now! Hey, those of you who think we are sick. Thats okay, I don’t hold it against you <3 Think what you like, say what you like, and be free. It's your life.

      I am so intrigued as to how AS decides to edit posts, from a personal standpoint. I mean, it must be very difficult to try to keep commenters first amendment rights intact whilst removing hate speech/off topic stuff #geekwhoshouldprobablystudylaw

  13. As an asexual and celibate being, I find all kinds of sexualiy offensive, as well as your stranje tradition of gathering non fertile embryos in worship of an ancient zombie.

    • As an asexual and celibate being, I find all types of sexuality disgusting and offensive, as well as your strange tradition of gathering non fertile poultry eggs in the name of an ancient zombie hippie man.

  14. Obama stated during his campain that he believes in “traditional marriage”. Now he is pandering before the election to get a few votes. Gary johnson (libertarian) is the only canidate that supports gay marriage.

  15. ^Wow, what the hell? Can we limit the comment section on this one to members? It seems to be dragging in an unusual number of trolls.

    • you can’t change the comment rules for one post, we’d have to change them for the entire website

      • Huh, really? I thought you’d done similar things before… my mistake. I enjoy the hot dogs!

  16. It makes me feel oddly warm and fuzzy when Autostraddle gets linked somewhere major and people come and comment. Is that weird?

    RECOGNITION FOR Y’ALL.

    • It’s kind of a double edged sword though, yay for recognition and increased visibility, nay for trolls and homophobia in the comments.

  17. I’m not unappreciative of the gains made for gay people during Obama’s presidency, but really, does he really deserve accolades for advocating what are essential human rights? And his advocacy is confusing, at best. Instead of Easter Egg Rolls, let’s go for marriage equality and employment and housing non-discrimination. That’s not radical; it’s merely the right thing to do.

    • The executive branch really has precious little power to change law on its own – the President is always at the mercy of Congress to actually, you know, pass laws for him to sign.

      Unless you think he’s sitting on a magic wand of some sort? That would be kind of cool, actually.

      • No magic wands, but how about some strong vocal advocacy for marriage equality from the President? Too risky for him in this election year?

        • Yeah, but see, his views on that have been “evolving” since the last election. No surprises there.

    • I think the real pathos here is that championing basic human rights is such a radical notion in this political climate… =\

  18. Wow, a lot happened after I went to sleep last night. And for once, I’m not in the middle of it. Sweet! But $20 says after these trolls finished commenting, they went and jerked off to the “50 Curvy Women” post.

      • You don’t need my gun to protect you. Just the knowledge that the “Franks” of the world are fewer than we are. That’s why he needs to be so loud..We’re drowning him out.

    • Digger, I really feel like we both dropped the ball on this one. We shall make it up to you, Autostraddle! With whiskey and snark!

      • I know! I went to bed at like 2 a.m. and it was all kinds of quiet. I signed in after my morning run and was like “WTF?” Damn me and my heart healthy lifestyle! Whiskey and snark is on the menu from now on!

  19. Oh my god, I’ve never seen so many comments by trolls/haters before on Autostraddle!

    These people have to REALLY love eggs, man.

    I hope this doesn’t jeopardize my feelings of safe-ness on here D:.

  22. This was a really interesting article, I really want to take my kids to an easter egg roll at the White House someday (when I actually have kids, you know). It looks so cute and like a great family event. So it’s nice to know I’ll be allowed!

    That being said- I love autostraddle and am so happy when good stuff happens to you guys but now I never ever want your stuff to be linked other places. Because these people suck.

  23. good work, Obama! And great article, Rachel!

    Did anyone else have a good Easter/weekend? I mean, I got to watch my younger siblings fight over finding eggs AND I found the golden egg! ($10 cash prize, drinks are on meeeee!)

  24. As a gay parent of a gay child, I’d like to say fabulous article Rachel! We will overcome!

    • YOU FORCED YOUR SON TO BE GAY BY YOUR PERVERSIONS. HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA. (sorry guys i just want a hotdog jpeg?)

    • I wonder if subconsciously, people will read this, associate Frank and his comments to hot dogs, and there will be a huge surge towards vegetarianism

      • I am conducting a study on gay media. My research indicates that homosexuals are more intolerant than heterosexuals. Autostraddle (which I did not know existed) is one of 46 major websites where I have been able to prove this fact by commenting on the articles posted and reviewing the reaction of the website and other commentators to my comments, which are simply based upon the premise that homosexuality is a limiting (and thus dysfunctional) human behaviour in terms of the fact that homosexuals cannot biologically procreate with their same-sex soulmates. The study will be released in December. That you for the content.

        BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THANK YOU FOR THE SAUSAGE-FEST

        this comment has been edited by the editors in hopes that it will appear in frank’s study on gay media

        • Oh Frank..Frank, Frank, Frank..You are a “man of science” in much the same way that Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church is a “man of God”.

          • You know, Frank makes me ashamed of being a scientist. According to what I’ve learned, science is a way to objectively understand the events in our environment. Yet, he uses the name of science to troll and/or subjectively express his feelings.

            Science is awesome and now he took the fun out of it.

          • Frank isn’t a “scientist”. He’s a Headcase. Sadly, he’s a Headcase who now has Autostraddle’s web address. Science is awesome. Frank is not. Science is still fun. Frank never was.(poor Frank)
            “Science investigates, religion interprets”
            Don’t give up on science.

        • Hi Frank. I hope your study is completely unbiased. For the sake of science, and if you want to make legitimate conclusions.

          Love, a scientist.

  29. Well I gather two things out of this article, Obama might help with more gay rights…eggs, and some guy named frank is an ass.

    Q. Why are “straight guys” on a lesbian website commenting on our “mental health”?
    A. Because they are gay.

    Advice.
    Next time take your fight to the male sites, you might find someone to love you out of your hate.

  30. I’m not surprised, considering how much he has done for the LGBT community. I just hope he doesn’t try to please the GOP his second term, and stop the pot raids in states where it’s legal. I think once he accepts that nothing he does will please the GOP because he’s black and not a Republican, he’ll be fine. Obama 2012! I do have a sneaking suspicion that Jeb Bush will run for President in 2016 and probably win.

  34. Well, that’s enough hotdogs for the rest of my life… oh and I LOVE GIRLS just so all of you know!

  36. It’s bullies like Frank etc. that keep me worried about my future as an out Lesbian wherever job opportunities take me (already frightening enough). This is just the way I wanted to start my week. Where did my warm and fuzzy safe zone go AS? Can we get a super cute and adorable post soon?

  37. This comment feed is comedy. I love when intolerant crazies and quick-witted lesbians make my Monday suck less. Someone should print this and do a live reading in the style of the recent prop 8 transcript play/reading. I’d buy tickets to it.

  38. The tl;dr summary of comments on this post:

    Frank et. al: Herpity Bible derpity homosexuals derpty herp herp derp trololol
    Autostraddlers: Who the what the? Go away
    Editors: Hotdog Man is a badge of your moral derpitude

    End.

  41. Rachel I really enjoyed your well researched article about equal rights and Easter egg hunts.

  43. I want to see Frank’s research design. What is the sample size, and the demographics of the population being studied? What are the control groups? How is he coding the qualitative data? Is he operationalizing “intolerance”? With what measurement? Is there reliability and validity data on this measurement from another source? If not, is he at least computing Cronbach’s Alpha for it? Are there confidentiality issues that are being addressed? Was this research screened by an IRB? Telling research subjects he is “repulsed” by them, especially without any poststudy debriefing, is certainly an ethical issue.

    • This irked me too. Any decent scientist knows that you can’t “prove” anything. Never mind the part where he said he was looking for intolerance. Confirmation bias much? SCIENCE DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY. GOODNIGHT.

  44. Okay, I’ve waited a few hours now to say this but, re: those douchcanoes and their comments :

    DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THE IRONY THAT THEIR AVATAR IS A WEINER???
    ANY ONE??

    • I know.
      I’m quick like that.
      Now I wish there was a “Delete My Last Post” option…
      *facepalm*

  45. I hardly ever comment but the edits on these comments are awesome. I love this site.

  46. I still die a little inside every time i see someone using jesus as an excuse for hate…

    Sort of ignores his rule 1 of ‘love everyone and no judgy, that’s for god, not you’

      • I genuinely could go on forever about it. gay trans christian doesn’t appear to compute to most people for some reason.

        • Yeah, gay Christian here, and you’re preaching to the choir (literally?). I was raised in a pretty tolerant, liberal church and so I crinkle up inside at the hateful stuff that people spew in the name of Christianity, though I know that kind of thing has been going on for centuries. But then on the flip side, I crinkle up inside when the response to that intolerance is a potshot at Christianity or a dig at organized religion in general(that is to say, leave my “zombie worship” out of it, even if it’s just a joke).

          • Exactly. These people spewing hateful things in the name of God are to Christianity what al-Qaeda is to Islam. Religious fundamentalists are the problem..Not the religions they claim to be working in the name of. They can’t seem to separate the two, but surely we can. We’re better than they are. We have to be.

          • I feel so many things about this, for so many reasons that are bigger than the “I was raised Catholic and then when I moved to Chicago I went to a Baptist Church until I found out they hate the gays and the Catholics but especially the gay Catholics, and I got really sad about it until I found a super-gay Lutheran church and now I feel like there’s at least one place where I don’t ever have to defend either part of me and it’s wonderful.”

            So…let’s be friends.

          • Totally feel you. Sort of a different story–I was probably the only black person baptized in my grandma’s Swedish Lutheran Church (alongside my siblings, and the minister always thanks us for visiting when we go) and I feel too gay, white, and northern for my dad’s black southern Baptist roots. We all ended up with the UCC Protestants, the church with all the “God is still speaking signs” with rainbow commas (because their other slogan is, “why put a period where God put a comma?”).

          • I’ve had pretty lucky stuff to be honest, i mean to start off with i wasn’t ‘excited’ about church but i didn’t hate it, then there were problems with repressed gender identity and blaming exactly what actually helped me stop repressing that shit. Luckily a couple of years later a nice liberal minister got transferred to the parish a couple of years later and set up fun interesting stuff for young people to do (including monthly curry meeting). This lead me also to a little place in france called taizé which is AWESOME. and also a place that has allowed me to come to terms with
            -grandad’s death
            -trans-ness
            -gay-ness
            -never-going-to-get-her-but-that’s-okay-ness

            This is all CofE (anglican/episcopalian) but i think i’ve definitely been a lot luckier than some as a friend recently ended up in a very bad place due to a very conservative section of the church of england telling her she wasn’t a real woman because she wasn’t allowing herself to be subjugated by men.

  47. I would think if people’s comments would be removed there would be beautiful oyster with a cute pearl inside…I always assumed wieners and hotdogs were gay reference foods and lesbians were oysters or just any fish…No pun intended but as a lesbian I’m allergic to wieners

    • dawn wiener does not approve.

      the magical appearance of the actual image in this comment is brought to you by the bears on your playlist and the autostraddle community managerettes.

    • um could we please not equate being a lesbian with not liking penises? because lots of lesbians have penises and they are beautiful.

  48. Wow…this was quite an intense comment thread.

    I will say one thing…our new friend Frank–who thinks a fun Monday activity is to engage hundreds of intelligent, well-read lesbians and accuse them of being dysfunctional and unnatural and disturbed, etc.–did nail one thing on the head when he started using his made-up word “homorepulsed” constantly to defend himself.

    that is exactly it, you guys. homophobia is part of it, sure, but there is simply a group of insufferable douchebags on this planet who are “homorepulsed”…i.e. icked out by us and our beautiful girlfriends and our pretty weddings and our awesome tattoos and our excellent hair (oh and the fabulous gay men as well) and they CANT HANDLE IT and they lose their shit anytime any gay person anywhere makes him or herself visible.

    it doesn’t make any sense. it flies in the face of all logic, reason, and common sense, not to mention decency, respect, and fairness towards fellow humans.

    i have come to the conclusion that the homorepulsed people are ACTUALLY HOT DOGS and now i am going to go keep kosher because i am hotdogrepulsed. they call gays unnatural…hot dogs are probs the most unnatural food in the entire world next to crystal light, which isn’t a food. okay i’m done. frank, wherever you are, good luck finding a girlfriend. you’re gonna seriously need it.

  49. And I keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, trying to get to the real comments…

    but I am loving the weiners. Whichever editor did that is awesome!

  50. “The day you can create a healthy baby by combining two eggs, is the day I will revise my scientific model to account for a possibility that homosexuality is not a limitation.” Sorry bro, but science would like to cordially invite you to suck it:

    “Australian researchers have devised a method of fertilising eggs without sperm.” Oh shoot!
    ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1120776/ )

    Seriously though, thanks for the article, Rachel! It was great, especially the video. I’m pretty sure Obama’s entire 2012 campaign should just be centered around Bo.

  51. Wow, this article definitely the most entertaining comments I’ve ever read here. I especially love the customized reasons the editors provided for editing Frank’s comments. You all are filled with win! I also think Zana should win the award for most appropriately used OH SNAP! gif. <3

    • Thanks girl! Although I originally put in a link and the autostraddle faeries made it a photo with their magics.

      • You’re quite welcome, lol. The Autostraddle url to image faeries should get an award too. ^_^

  52. reading this feed has made me jealous of everyone’s english vocab and writing skills.

  54. Well damn, the trolls were certainly out in force today, I’ve never seen so many weiners in one place before.

    Rachel, it was a great article.

  56. I really just want the autostraddle editors for trolls in real life. If every time someone said something homophobic to me and a hotdog with a cane started dancing in front of them, I would just laugh and nothing would offend me ever again.

    • Because this article made top news on google, HOORAY :D
      sadly that tends to bring quite a few insufferable plume-plucked malt-worms into the mix.

  58. when i saw there was 238 comments on a story about easter egg rolling, I KNEW THAT TROLLING WAS IMMINENT! yayyy rage

  59. It’s it bad that I keep scrolling down because that dancing wiener was epic.

    Really great article though.

  61. dancing weiners aside, my college’s chaplain was at this with her partner and kids.

    fun fact: the once were in a car beside when we were going to pride, and they pulled along side us and blasted YMCA and other homogay anthems and we were all drunk and they still loved us.

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