Pride Day Moves to Montpelier

by Gene F. Barfield

Talks about Vermont’s sixth annual
Lesbian and Gay Pride Day celebration
reached a surprising conclusion at the re-
cent meeting of the Vermont Coalition of
Lesbians and Gay Men. Prior to the meet-
ing word quietly went around the network
of lesbian and gay activists in the state that
if no new interest was evident in organizing
this year’s lesbian and gay life celebration,
there might not be a Pride Day in Vermont
this year.

Each year for the past five, Lesbian
and Gay Pride events have been centered
almost exclusively in Burlington, because
that city is Vermont’s largest and common
thought seemed to be that the lesbian and
gay community felt somehow safer in the
streets of Burlington than in any other
municipality in the state. Burlington has an
anti-discrimination ordinance in place and
has welcomed the events, in varying de-
grees, over the years.

Discussions at the Coalition meeting
quickly resolved the issue of whether or not
there will be a Lesbian and Gay Pride
celebration in 1988. Concensus appeared

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unanimous that with all the work on S278
(and its forerunner H.247) in the legisla-
ture, we need to make a strong showing this
year, maybe more so than ever before. And
the community of activists in Burlington,
many of whom have taken the lead in state-
wide organizing in recent years, are justly
claiming they can’t divert their priorities
this time to wade through the mass of de-
tails going into bringing off a successful
Pride Day. Fairly speaking, the Coalition
acknowledged that it might be time to in-
fuse new ideas and new faces into the labor
behind staging the event.

Even though the talks about Pride Day
were held initially in the separate men’s
and womyn’s group meetings, when the
whole Coalition reconvened to summarize
and set plans the same idea emerged from
both groups: in a bold move the people of
the Coalition decided this might just be the
year to take our demonstration and celebra-
tion to the State Capitol in Montpelier.

The big reason for the eventual deci-
sion of the Coalition members to select
Montpelier is three-fold: we have as much
right to be in Montpelier as any other place

and as any other group; Montpelier is more -

centrally located and groups coming from
distances around the state have expressed a
greater willingness to travel to Montpelier
than to Burlington; and the strong political
statement in taking our events to the seat of
government shouldn’t be overlooked. As

April 1988

talks worked around the group at the meet-
ing, more and more people repeated the
feeling that celebrating our lives and dem-
onstrating our presence in the precincts of
the capital city could be a source of great
strength for the community.

The issue of public disclosure remains
before us wherever we decide to hold our
events. It has always been noticed by those
who felt enabled to march and demonstrate
their pride publicly that even in Burlington
there were always lots of on-lookers who
indicated they wished they could join the
parade as it passed but felt too great a threat
to themselves in doing so. That won’t
change for some people in Montpelier, but
the feeling is that the net positive gain in
standing proudly at the seat of government
will make an important statement. It was
also recognized that since Burlington
mayor Bernie Sanders has done little, if
anything, to contribute to passage of the
civil rights bill this year, the community
wasn’t willing to lend its presence in any
way he might be able to make political
capital of.

While the actual program of events is
still in its infancy and much work remains
to be done for the community to pull the
event together successfully, the decision to
shift the focus of Lesbian and Gay Pride to
the State Capitol is seen as a new step
forward, taken in confidence and strength
by the gay and lesbian community around
the Green Mountain State.

Vermont Gay Volleyball News

Vermont Gay Volleyball would like to
thank the players from Middletown, NY,
who came to Burlington for a weekend
invitational. We would also like to thank all
of the Burlington people who hosted the
players in their homes. A special thanks to
Michael who carried out the necessary ar-
rangement and to Tim who supplied his
home for the potluck dinner. VGV meets

on Sunday nights from 5:30 to 8:0Op.m.
There is also aFriday night group who meet
in more of a competitive atmosphere, who
are interested in team playing. This group
is designed to pay closer attention to the
rules and strategies of competition volley-
ball. Anyone interested in either group
should write to the following for more in-
formation: PO Box 248 Hinesburg, VT
05461.

 

  

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