' May 1987, Page 9 ‘ from page 8 UVM sexuality class If my brother or sister came out to me, I would probably say... I would probably be feeling... When I see lesbian women expressing affection toward one another, I feel... When thinking about individuals I now who are gay, I see them as being... Religious ideas I learned related to being gay were... When thinking about how satisfying a gay male love relationship is when compared to a heterosexual love relationship, I think that... When thinking about how satisfying a lesbian love relationship is when compared to a heterosexual over relationship, I think that... Compared to heterosexual men, gay men’s lovemaking is probably... Compared to heterosexual women, lesbian women's lovemaking is probably... If I were gay, right now I might be feeling... In thinking about whether gay men and lesbian women should be accorded the same rights and privileges related to matters such as housing and public office, I think that... When I think about a lesbian woman who wants to get pregnant and rear her child by herself or with her female partner, I think that... When I think about a child who grows up in a family with a gay parent I feel... As far as gay male partners adopting and rearing a child together I think that... ' If I were gay, the hardest thing about coming out to my parents would be... Compared to the importance they attach to the sexual dimension of the relationship, when compared to heterosexual couples, gay male couples probably feel and think that... My understanding of Biblical references concerning homosexuality is... If my roommate told me they were gay I would probably... Compared to the importance they attach to the sexual dimension of the relationship, when compared to heterosexual couples, lesbian couples probably feel and think that... If I had a fantasy or dream that involved a sexual experience with another member of the same sex I would probably feel that I was... When gay men make love they probably... When lesbian women make love they probably... If thinking about homosexuality makes me feel a little anxious, it's probably because... That a large percentage of people report that they have had some kind of homosexual experience sometime in their lifetime probably means that... Some of the nice things about being gay are probably... Some of the difficult things about being gay are probably... Tutor Available for Private Lessons _Help with grammar and conversation In French, German and Spanish. Specializing in Music Theory & Piano Techniques. ' Reasonable rates & convenient scheduling. F? :9 ":"‘l J o‘ J C‘ J 0' Call Gilles at 862-0987. F7 F3 J a‘ cl? 4 d from page 6 LOBBYING sounded unflappable until he backed himself into a sentence and couldn’t get out until I prompted him with his missing word, "homose-xual?". Several times I was frustrated when a representative cited a negative unforeseen impact that the bill might have. I didn’t have the knowledge or swiftness of tongue to refute the point. I was fairly certain that they were wrong but I couldn’t ‘say why. I realized that I needed to know the bill inside and out to be as effective as possible. And I needed a lot of courage to call them on their mistakes. It was a sickening feeling to challenge someone who professed to support us and show them that they really didn’t. Not having come out to my parents in Southern Vermont provided added stress. I sat in dread in the public hearing and at press conferences while cameras rolled, wondering if they would see me on tv that night. Vermont began to seem like a small state. It occurred to me suddenly that I needed to come out to them, that the moment I’d been waiting for had arrived. I couldn’t continue to lobby representatives, professing my pride, and silently hope that my parents wouldn’t somehow find out. My priorities seemed backward. And my growing confidence was undermined by the knowledge that I hadn’t dealt fairly with them. My elation waned in the final days before the vote as the consequences of the weekend phone campaign by the fundamentalists became obvious. With a few brief exhortations in Sunday sermons across the state, they mobilized a vast network of callers and succeeded in unnerving even the most firm supporters of H.247. Their tactics were not subtle. They ranted and threatened and annoyed almost everyone. But they called and made their presence known. One representative termed them "the hair spray ladies" as he explained why he hadn’t dared to vote for the bill. The conversations I had Monday and Tuesday night became repetitive -everyone was scared and no one was willing to stake their career on a bill that couldn’t pass anyway, even if they believed in it. It became crystal clear to me how difficult it would be to pass this bill; how easily support could vanish on short notice. Very few representatives would go out on a limb for us. Until the bill’s passage became a virtual certainty, many who supported it wouldn't dare vote for it. The courage of those who did take the political risk was moving. Vi Luginbuhl‘s presentation of the bill Wednesday morning was wonderful. The beaming faces outside the main chamber after the vote told the story. The ninety-two people who voted to send H.247 to the General and Military Affairs Committee weren’t voting "yes" but they were voting to keep it alive. All across the floor as people stood up to vote yes on the motion, heads were swivelling, seeing who else was standing. Some belatedly stood up when they saw how many were already on their feet. One legislator from Winooski told me she believed in planting seeds. She said we could claim a tremendous success if our goal had been to begin the educational process. I think she was right. We were successful, tremendously so. Our credibility as a legitimate, articulate minority took a quantum leap forward in the last few months. And we have learned much for future efforts. Maybe in the sessions to come, it won't feel as much of a triumph to be taken seriously but for right now it feels good. Lesbians and AIDS A gathering for lesbians and bisexual women to discuss sex and AIDS will take place on Tuesday, June 9 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM in Contois Auditorium. City Hall. in Burlington. It will be an opportunity to ask questions, get answers, and dispel myths. Lesbians have too often been misleadingly lumped with gay men or heterosexual women in these discussions. Sponsored by the Vermont Department of Health and the Burlington Women’s Council, it will feature Deborah Kutzko, an AIDS education consultant for the Health Dept. She has just come back from a conference in California on AIDS and the lesbian/gay ‘Out in the Mountains’ Resource/Ca- lender will list, free of charge, any groups or events of interest to lesbi- ans and gay men. If your group is not included here, or if you have an upcoming activity you would like to see listed, send the details to: ‘Out in the Mountains,’ Box 438, Hinesburg, VT 05461 .