8- OITP1 june 2001

Volume V, Number 1

We’re Here

by Carrie Coy

Under relentlessly sunny skies, the 9th -

annual Vermont Lesbian/Gay Pride Rally
roared back into Burlington on June 22.
The largest contingent yet, well over 700
people, choo-chooed .through the packed
Marketplace. A profusion of pink tri-
angles displaced yellow ribbons as the
:symbol of the day. ,- -- - - "

In Burlington after three years in Montpe-
lier, marchers regaled a made-to-order
throng of shoppers and Chew-Chew fes-
ters with pithy chants like, “We’re here,
we’re queer, we’re fabulous, get used to
it." For marchers grown accustomed to
the broad, mostly deserted capital streets,
the trek through the chaotic Marketplace
corridor was a sinus-clearing experience.

Four dykes on noisy bikes (two from a
Boston bike club, Moving Violations) es-
corted the procession from City Hall
steps to Pearl Street, down South Cham-
plain, and up Main to City Hall again.
The short march amused, horrified, and
baffled onlookers. Wondered one con-

fused bystander, “How can they be so
sure their animals are gay?” Once again,
the march was free from violence (if not
absurdity).

Marketplace merchants greeted marchers ’

with both open arms and closed minds.
Chassman & Bern featured a window dis-
play selection of gay-positive books
around a matted statement of commit-
ment to lesbian and gay rights. At the
other extreme, a clerk at Vermont Folk
Instruments declined to wait on one Pride
Day perforrner/shopper in mm. In re-
sponse to her protest, it was suggested
that she, "play with herself," as that was
what she, “was probably used to, any-
way."

In his first official address to a Pride"

March, a spirited Burlington Mayor Peter
Clavelle welcomed celebrants to the city.
He thanked the gay and lesbian com-
munity for enriching the city's cultural
life and stated his wish to work with com-
munity members to create a domestic
partnership policy for city employees.
“Any politician that’s not with you,” he
said, “should be out of office.”

Continued from page 1

We’re Here

This year's rally was a creation of new-
ly-forrned Vermont Pride, led by per-
ennial organizer Ronnie Bancroft, and
the Burlington Women's Council, with
some first-time help from the Boston
and New Hampshire Pride Committees.
A grateful Bancroft thanked New
Hampshire for supplying the walkie
talkies to help coordinate marchers and
camcorders to record the event.

The day stretched into a weekend with a
Friday bash in Contois Auditorium that
drew a hundred or so campy dancers
and netted $130 for itssponsors, the
Multi-Cultural Council of Vermont and

OU'l'RIGHT Vermont. After the rally,
comedienne Liz Sampson and singer]
guitarist Lisa McConnick kept a mostly
women audience cool and amused for
several hours.

Capping off the night, rollicking music
from Virginia and the Wolves coaxed
even the most steadfast wall-flowers onto
the floor at Memorial Auditorium.

In the end, the mood of the weekend
seemed a response to an open-ended dil-
ema posed by Vermont C.A.R.E.S. di-
rector Lauren Corbett. How can
C.A.R.E.S. volunteers, she wondered at
the podium, affirm life in their daily work
and still manage to acknowledge loss?
The spirit of Pride ‘91 seemed to honor
both. V

On that note, speaker Holly Perdue told
the crowd of an apparent rebuff from
Governor Richard Snelling. Perdue and
Keith Goslant, co—liaisons from the les-
bian/gay community to Governor Kunin,
haven't been reappointed to their posts.
In fact, they haven't heard from Snelling

despite a letter to his office: expressing

their desire to continue asliasions. Gos-
lant, recently recognized by Snelling for
his community service work, expressed
the hope that the delay was due to a com-
munication snafu.

“We are as deserving of leading as any-
one," almost-senator Howdy Russell told
the cheering crowd. “Our perspective is
unique and being gay is relevant." He
lambasted legislators for their inaction on
the civil rights bill. “Budget concerns are
not a higher priority," he said flatly. “Ac-
cept nothing less than passage.” Kudos
went to Bemie Sanders for becoming the
state’s first and only congressperson to
co-sponsor federal lesbian/gay civil rights
legislation. V

Continued on ballom of page 2.

Relive our hlS’EOl"y online at —> www.mountainpridemediaorg/oitm_index.htm