FAMILY REUNION, GINGRICH STYLE

House Speaker Newt Gingrich skipped a luncheon mobbed by protesters, then lay low as a wave of gay activists swamped the Hill to lobby against the Republican agenda. His half-sister, Candace Gingrich, an openly lesbian gay rights lobbyist, was among them. "The Republicans being in control means that some of the support that we've been used to with the Democrats isn't there anymore," she told reporters as she visited the Capitol. As for her brother, Candace said he is not anti-gay but "maybe uninformed." She added that while she would never vote for him, he's not a mean person.