N0vember  . Out in the Mountains . page 5

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unhappy town. But the’ individuals
falsely accused have tried -— perhaps in
vain -- to tell Americans that they

were victims of :i witch-hunt. Many of
the schools they ran, meanwhile, have
been closed down.

Here in Vermont, day-care operators
have recently accused the state's Social
and Rehabilitation Services of
employing ‘Gestapo tactics‘ in their
revocation ‘on flimsy pretexts" of day
care licenses. Nationwide, day care
centers are closing under the pressure
of exorbitant insurance rates. So are
family planning clinics.

The illusions to Nazi tactics keep
reappearing in the press. (Remember the
raid on lsland Pond two years ago by
90 state police and social workers, on
the pretext of saving children from the
alleged child-abuse practices of their
cultist parents? Even the Vermont
ACLU felt compelled to compare the
raids to Hitler's Germany). The
‘pro-family,“ anti-abortion,
back’-to-the-home movement now
sweeping through our rural areas has
disturbing parallels to the “new
woman's movement" of the Third Reich
described by Dr. William Seaver Woods
in 1933: "It is going in a direction
exactly opposite to that of all other
women's movements as we have known
them. For it is moving away from
financial independence, away from
business and the professions, back—to-the
home, to the nursery, to the kitchen. It
is right in line, of course, with the
drive for more wedding rings.‘

We need only read Newsweek’:
recent story on “The Marriage Crunch‘
and the alleged likelihood of
spinsterhood for the over-30’s to know
that woman's place is home again.

So much for women. What about
homosexuals? A petition circulated in
the state of Washington by members of
the ‘Washington Family Coalition‘
wanted an initiative on the ballot that
‘would make a crime the ‘knowing
employment‘ by schools, day care
centers, or foster care programs
involving contact with children,‘of
persons this initiative declared to be
sexually deviant.‘ This would also
‘apply to government employment.
involving contact with children,
mentally or physically handicapped,

elderly, and persons in detention.”

Lyndon LnRouche, meanwhile, has
distinguished himself by proposing to
the voters of California that HIV
(A.l.D.S.) seropositive people should be
barred from working as food handlers,
teachers and administrators, while
people carrying HIV (not just people
with A.l.D.S.) should be quarantined if
their blood tests turn up positive.

And speaking of tests, what about
the Reagan Administration's
endorsement of urine testing for all
federal employees (not just those
suspected of drug abuse). This past
Summer, according to the New York
Times, ‘private employers‘ were
‘beginning to line up behind President

Reagan's call for mandatory urine
samples to hunt out drug users on the
payrolls.‘

This returns me to the subject of
witch-hunting, and more specifically, to
its economic origins. In a fascinating
piece by Mary Nelson called ‘Why
Witches Were Women,“ the author
describes how the burning of half a
million women between l400-l700
corresponded with the transition in
Europe from feudalism to capitalism,
from an agrarian lifestyle to the
beginning of industrialization.

"Witches" accused of copulating with
the Devil and feasting on unbaptized
babies were, in fact, often peasant
women uprooted from their lands and
forced into the cities, where they
survived by prostitution or finding jobs
in textile factories. In either case, they
could not afford to have babies; many,
undoubtedly, had abortions. Prostitutes
and baby-killers: our witches are still
with us. And who is to blame.

The technological revolution cannot
be stopped. Nor should it be. Our
problem is not with machines. They
save labor. We could all enjoy working
less,spending more time on pleasurable,
creative pursuits. The problem is with
those who refuse to make the necessary
societal adjustments to ‘the new
technology -- the people who favor
expediency and the status quo over
humanity and new social solutions. In
short, the people who resist movements
for social change.

1 would like to see the ERA as our
first line of defense against their cruel,
inhuman tactics to crush our movement
for equality. It is not too late for
Vermonters to turn this struggle around,
to move forward instead of backward.
Going to the polls on November 4 and
voting YES on Proposal I could not
only turn the tide for women. lt could
turn the tide for us all.

Help Available for
Gay/Le sbian
Alcoholics

Many gay men/lesbian women are
in the process of recovering from the
disease bf alcoholism/drug abuse. And,
sadly, there are thousands who still
suffer, many without hope. Why so
many, why such a large percentage of
gays?

The answer may be obvious to
many of you. In our culture, to be
homosexual is not acceptable to the
majority. Most gays grow up feeling
"different" (queer?) and have a
tremendous problem with the issues of
identity and belonging.

It is not uncommon to hear '1 have
always felt like someone with leprosy,
unfit for living in society like everyone
else“. Many find that their
homosexuality has brought estrangement
from family and/or friends.

Loneliness is a problem faced by
all persons but it seems a much bigger

For
confidential

AID S

Information

 
   
   

   

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Call

1-800
882—AIDS

problem for gays and lesbians. lt is out
of these feelings of being "unclean" and
"lonely" that many find some release in
alcohol or drugs.

lt is also true that the gay
life-style centers often around the
nearest gay bar. Drinking becomes a
normal part of one's social life and can
so easily escalate into an addiction.

There are places for gays to turn
to for help with a drinking/drugging
problem!

Alcoholics Anonymous is available
in all towns and villages. And the good
news is that in many areas, there are
special interest AA groups for
gay/lesbian men and women.

Gays needing professional and
residential treatment to assist in the
recovery process can turn to places like
Maple Leaf Farm in Underhill, VT,
where they would be welcomed and
treated with respect and genuine
concern.

If you are a homosexual person
and have a drinking or drugging
problem—-you need not face it alone!
Help is available!

For more information, phone Bob
Hearn at 802/899-2911 or 802/862-9947
(res). (Bob is Director of Community
Relations at Maple Leaf Farm.)