May  Page 7

Media Notes

PRO...

The Burlington Free Press repeated an
early endorsement of H.247 with a strongly
worded editorial that appeared Wednesday,
April 1, the morning the bill came before
the House for further action.

Under the headline, "Foes Arguments
Show Need for Rights Bill", the editorial
chided several legislators, including
Representative Michael Bernhardt of
Londondeny, for their illogical arguments.
It stated "to embrace Bemhardt’s position is
also to advocate the right of Vermonters to
discriminate against blacks, women, Jews,
Catholics or any other group that someone
feels is ‘something so contrary to their
beliefs."'

The editorial concluded by repeating an
earlier statement that "passage of such a law
by the Legislature would be but another
milestone in the state's tradition of
guaranteeing equal treatment under the law
to all Vermont citizens."

AND CON...

It is not "Out in the Mountains"
policy to print overtly homophobic material.
In this case we are making an obvious
exception. This is because we strongly
believe that everyone needs to be aware of
the opposition’s depth and hatefulness in our
battle for civil rights. As gays and lesbians
we deal with subtle discrimination on a daily
basis but, fortunately, attacks like this one
are rarer. Even so, we need to remember
the potential is always there.

We’ve chosen this particular piece to
print for several reasons. One is that it
appeared in a major Vermont newspaper,
another is that we hope it will arouse anger

Pro: Burlington Free Press
Con: Caledonian-Record

in you rather than a sense of helplessness.
Let it motivate you to become involved with
the lobbying effort to pass H.247.

"Last Friday, the Vermont House
Judiciary Committee rather suddenly
approved and reported I-1.247, the "Gay
Rights Bill." The bill would permit
homosexuals to bring anti-discrimination
actions in housing, employment, credit
practices and adoption.

According to the Associated Press on
Saturday, "Supporters of the bill were close
mouthed about committee action. Its main
sponsor, Rep. Micque Glitman, D-Burlington.

Quote of the Month

"...One legislator reported...that gay
advocates were ‘prancing all over the
Statehouse trying to line up support."'

- The Caledonian-Record, editorial,
Tuesday, April 7, I987

declined comment. Some lawmakers said
the bill's supporters did not want to get
much press coverage on the bill in order to
limit lobbying efforts by the public over the
weekend." Associated Press certainly helped
this strategy along by reporting the measure
in the middle of a story about the 55-mph
speed limit bill.

The gay rights bill has been the major
legislative objective of the Vermont Gay and
Lesbian Coalition, the sponsors of the "Gay
and Lesbian Pride" parade in Burlington,
which Governor Kunin attended last year.
Since the proposed ERA failed in the last
election, gays must now secure the adoption
of a special statute to enable them to bring
lawsuits charging discrimination. They have
expended considerable effort in this
direction. One legislator reported, last

Thursday, that gay advocates were "prancing
all over the Statehouse trying to line up

support."

The gay movement takes the position
that homosexuality is not an unfortunate
psychological disorder, but a positive practice
every bit as moral as heterosexuality. if not
more so. They believe that their particular
sexual practices are commendable. and they
seem to take a special interest in introducing
as many people to them as possible. They
believe that their sexual preferences deserve
legal protection. not proscription.

In particular, they resent that some
school boards are nervous about sexually
predatory homosexuals as teachers. or that
some landlords think gay tenants would
make their apartment buildings less desirable
to normal tenants, or that adoption agencies
might be reluctant to allow two gay men to
adopt a young male orphan, or that
restaurant owners might be concerned about
having gays with their high risk of carrying
AIDS virus handling food in their kitchens.
The point of the present bill is to enable
homosexuals to put a legal gun to the head
of such people.

We do not believe that homosexuals
ought to be persecuted by society for their
sex preferences, distasteful as they may be to
the majority. But we refuse to accept the
proposition that their peculiar sex
preferences are worthy of civil rights
protection now accorded people without
regard to race, creed, color, national origin
or gender.

And. we are particularly disgusted at
their apparent attempt to slip their gay
rights bill through the House as quickly as
possible. to prevent a citizen outcry which
might influence the votes of wavering
legislators. This is an issue of considerable
importance to society as a whole. Normal
people deserve to have their voice heard, as
well as the homosexuals who have been
lobbying so intensively in the capitol these
past weeks. We hope their voice is heard,
and that the Legislature votes H.247 down.

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what a
nice couple!

 

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