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llllass Civil Union During
Dyke Doc Conference

There was a dramatic upswing in
civil unions in Burlington during a
certain week of July — the week that
the Women in Medicine (also
known affectionately as Dyke Docs)
Conference was held at the
Radisson Hotel. Gloria Gil, a long
time feminist and political activist,
officiated at nearly 20 CUs that
week, with 13 in one day in Battery
Park.

“I told them I wasn’t
going to do this like Rev. Sun
Myung Moon, everyone at once.
Each couple came up separately,”
said the veteran Justice of the Peace.
“I have quite a nice little service
that I do, with a bit of political
background about Vermont being
the first and so far only state to
legally recognize same-sex relation-
ships.

“Each couple had some
thing they wanted to say to each
other,” Gil related, “and they were
there with their kids, and as each
couple’s service finished there was
this big cheering squad! It was won-
derful! The first couple had been
together 42 years!”

Gil said that the 13 cou-
ples she united in civil union that
day had been together a collective
293 years, or an average of over 22
Years per couple. Going through the
13 couples took a mere two hours —
how’s that for compassionate effi-
ciency!

I said PRA X.
No 2‘ PREV.’

Abuse-Free and Semi-Visible

On August 12, the National Public
Radio program Marketplace ran a
segment on the only church denomi-
nation that has never had an insur-
ance claim related to sexual abuse:
Metropolitan Community Church.
While that is remarkable enough on
its face, the segment went on for
several minutes without once men-
tioning that it was founded 34 years
ago as a gay church by gay pastor
Rev. Troy Perry, and that a signifi-
cant percentage of its ministers (not
to mention parishioners) are gay or
lesbian.

Apparently the most suc-
cessful sexual abuse prevention
strategy is the church’s policy of
requiring two adults to be present
whenever a minor is meeting with a
church official. In addition, all 300
MCC congregations (with 46,000
members) are required to purchase
sexual abuse liability insurance,
which costs, on average $4,000 a
year. New church buildings are con-
structed with interior windows
between offices and common areas.

We weren’t entirely invisi-
ble, however. About halfway
through the segment, there was a
brief reference by a church official
to the fact that the churches under-
stand that “repressed systems never’

. lead to healthy sexuality” and that is
'. especially true for “people with gay

and lesbian sexuality.”

On the other hand, in
Marketplace’s “calendar announce-
merit” segment for upcoming events
in the economic sphere, the Human
Rights Campaign’s Corporate _
Equality Index was mentioned, with
the explanation that it was a report
card on how well companies treat
their gay and lesbian employees.

e 33'‘

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First Civil Union Lights Up
Retired Minister

It wasn’t exactly the way they’d
planned it, but it turned out okay
anyway. Vannilu Harrison (a fea-
tured gardener in our April 2002
issue) and her partner Sherry
Underwood had planned for months
for pastor Rev. Murdale Leysath to
celebrate their civil union last
month. But a fall resulting in a seri-
ous back injury the day before the
ceremony sent the would-be cele-
brant and friend to the hospital
instead of to the ceremony.

She called her friend Rev.
David Dean, a retired minister from
Rutland’s Grace Congregational
Church (United Church of Christ),
to step in, with the women’s pem1is-
sion. .

As he opened the ceremo-
ny, he atmounced that, since he had
retired before the civil union law
was passed, this would be his very
first civil union ceremony. And it
was there in the way he said it, the
way he looked all around at the
assembled company, the special
oomph in his voice, that he was
absolutely delighted at the prospect.
And that specialness made all the
difference for the women who
missed their chosen pastor.

Congratulations, Sherry
and Vannilu — nice to have a legal
relationship after 25 years. V

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