Page 6, Out in the Mountains

H.247 Commentary

By Reverend C. Irving Cummings
Re: Testimony Regarding the Passage of
Bill H247 From Committee to the House
Floor

March 10, 1987

My name is Irving Ormmings. I am
an ordained clergyman in the United Church
of Christ, and was trained for the ministry
at Harvard University Divinity School. I am
the pastor of a church in the Vermont
Conference, and also serve as a social
worker at the Counseling Service of Addison
County.

I regret that so many of my brothers
and sisters in Christ have left this meeting
already. I feel strongly that they need to
hear what it is that I have to say.‘ I had
not planned to speak at all this evening, but
because I am a follower of Jesus, I am
compelled to speak.

There have been many things said at
this assembly this evening, in the name of
Jesus Christ, and many of them are simply
untrue. The Bible has been misquoted,
quoted out of context, flippantly, causally,
and with little care of regard for its real
meaning.

It has been said here tonight that
Jesus has spoken clearly on the matter of
homosexuality. That is untrue. Jesus never
said a single word about it, that we know
of. He simply never addressed the issue.

It is true that there are about five
references in Holy Writ which seem to be,
could be, might be, conceivably are, possibly
are condemnations about something like
what we might now call "homosexuality". A
previous speaker has noted that the story of
Sodom, about which we have heard much this
evening, is really about the sin of
inhospitality. [We know, at least,‘ that this
is how Jesus understood it, for upon the
sole occasion within which he made
reference to it, he was instructing the
disciples as to how they should behave if
they went to a town which refused to accept
them. "It will be worse for that town, on
the day of Judgement," he said, "than it was
for Sodom."]"

It is also true that there are about
438 references in Scripture condemning
wealth. And, about fifty condemning usury,

the practice of lending money at interest.
There can also be found laws prohibiting the
wearing of clothes made from more than
one kind of fibre (polyester blends,
anyone?), the eating of pork, and sitting
upon a chair whereon has previously sat a
woman who has been menstruating.

I say these things not to debunk the
Bible. I read it regularly. I am a follower
of Jesus, and I am aware that much of the
material within the Bible must be
understood within the context of the culture
and the situation from which it first arose.
It is culture-bound.

Thank you. I speak in support of this
bill.

Selected Testimony

Much moving testimony was heard at
the public hearing of H.247. Though it
would be impossible to reprint all of it in it
entirety, we selected the two that follow
representative of rest.

My name is Elizabeth Morse, and I’ve
lived in Montpelier all my life. I work as a
typesetter at the Northfield News and
Printery and on weekends I'm an announcer
at WSKI-radio in Montpelier.

As a Lesbian, I have not yet faced any
direct form of discrimination, although the
letters and public statements of people who
feel free to call us sick and evil, and say
that we have no right to exist. are forms of
harassment that affects us all, as
meaningless as their word may be to us.

The people that I work for and with
at the Northfield News have not had any
complaints about my work and have no
reservations about having a lesbian work for
them. By their support for rights for all
people, they encouraged me to speak to you
of the absolute normalcy of my job and my
life.

The people that I work for at WSKI
have not found having a gay deejay any
problem. My lifestyle has nothing to do with
my ability, my need or willingness to work
and to do my job well. My employers know
this.

I have been fortunate in having the
love and respect and support of family
members, friends and co-workers, who have
not found their lives adversely affected by
the fact that their daughter, sister or friend-
is gay. It is simply another part of my life.

This is the way it should be. Many of
the gay women and men that I know have
no such support and a lot to lose by
speaking out in support of this bill. By
taking action to protect their jobs,
livelihoods and families, they could lose
them. The risk we face is real. I am here
tonight not only to speak out along with
and for those of us who have suffered
discrimination and harassment, but to speak
for my own future. Future employers, future
landlords, future business transactions I may
be involved in, could depend on this bill
being passed. If I don’t take this action for
my future, I leave it in the hands of those
who feel they have a right to discriminate
against me and harass me simply because

they believe that, because I am gay. I am
not protected by the laws of my state.

We are not unusual people. We hold
jobs, pay bills, pay taxes, vote, read
newspapers and watch TV, perhaps go to
school or raise children, and fall in love,
like the rest of the population, except we
fall in love with people of our own gender.
We do not seek to be perverse. hostile,
un-American or destructive. We simply seek
life and liberty, the same rights that all
citizens are entitles to.

Political Lobbying:
A Rookie’s View

Prior to this session of the legislature,
I had almost never come out to anyone
whose favorable reaction was anything less
than certain, not even my parents. Telling
someone I was gay was a calculated risk I
preferred to postpone as long as possible.
The introduction of H.247 into the House of
Representatives this year changed that. In
the course of lobbying for this bill, I talked
and corresponded with legislators from all
over the state, identifying myself as a lesbian
and asking them to support the bill.

In the beginning I was so knock-kneed
nervous, I wondered whether it was even
worth it. I wondered if my discomfort was
so obvious that I was making a bad
impression and that my efforts would be
counter-productive. But in spite of my fears,
my experiences were almost always positive,
even when the response was negative. The
elation I felt after talking with a legislator,
regardless of their position, was powerful.
The bill’s introduction provided me with an
incredible opportunity to educate and talk
openly with representatives about
homosexuality and to be listened to with
respect.

Throughout the hi‘.'.‘s journey, I
remained one of its invisible supporters. I
was never in the press, my picture never
showed up in any paper. Nowhere but in my
imagination did I appear alongside Howdy
Russell as he batted aside foolish or hostile
questions from reporters. In other words, I
was probably a typical supporter of H.247,
willing to take only limited risks.

The day H.247 was introduced, I
approached my legislator on the House floor
before the start of the session and told him
I supported the bill. In my haste to end the
conversation, I immediately began backing
away, bumping into the adjoining seats as he
called further questions after me across the
rows. It was a dubious launching, at best,
for my career as a lobbyist. ‘

But I learned a lot. One of the
hardest things I learned was not to be
excessively polite, to confront a legislator
when they said something untrue or simply
ignorant. At first, the mere act of telling
them I supported the bill seemed daring and
almost "pushy." I accepted with utmost
courtesy all their rationalizations for why
they couldn’t support the bill publicly
although they supported it philosophically.
I'm not sure when that changed. Maybe
when the novelty of talking with
representatives wore off.

I began calling representatives who
didn't support us at all. They were usually
polite and almost always glib - and they
made me angry. They used every lame
reason available to justify their
positions...protections already existed,
discrimination wasn't a problem, our rights
couldn’t infringe on others’ rights. One
representative from South Burlington

continued, page 9