Out in the Mountains Education for a VT Queen by Richard Cornwall In reading May Sarton’s The Edua- tion of Harriet Hatfield, I was hooked from page one, as Harriet, reflecting on her 30- year-long relationship with her recently deceased partner, asks herself: “Is a good marriage always founded on one of the partners willingly abdicatin g for the sake of peace? [p.9]” This theme is sprinkled through the book and at the end her brother Andrew, who just came out to her a short time earlier and who, through her, has become close to a gay couple, Joe and Eddie, asks: “So you really believe that in any successful relationship one person dominates?” Harriet responds: “It looks that way. Joe dominates Eddie, partly be- cause. Eddie is so much younger. The strange thing is that I think Mother domi- nated Father.”[p.295] This book draws many parallels be- tween gay couples and straight couples as it attempts the ambitious goal of portraying the interaction of gay and straight in our post gay lib, hatefully religious and AIDS- fearing society. Despite these ambitions, it is a very enjoyable read since Sarton makes Harriet Hatfield such a tangible person who is easy to recognize and who is invitingly open to her weaknesses. Harriet embarks on setting up a femi- nist bookstore as a “real center for women”. Harriet’s “eduction”, which we experience as we read this delightful book, is to ac- knowledge the need to use the L-word, later to proudly claim she is a lesbian, to take her place among the persecuted[p.276] and to reject the suffocating, insidiously powerful values of “the embalmed middle-class” [p.274]. The journey from being a lady of Llan- gollen [p.78], or rather of “Chestnut Hill and all it represents/’[p.l69] to a lesbian running a feminist bookshop in working class Sommerville is similar to the journey from “respectability” which all gay people face. How many of us have had an aunt or friend say “I have no quarrel with how you choose to live your life, but I can’t see and can’t understand your talking about it in public. It’s nobody’s business but your own, surely” [p. 126] which is expressed by Harriet’s dear friend, Angelica [sic.]. Har- riet is aware that “if none of the old and respectable like me ever admit what they are” then the image of gay and lesbian as “the young and exhibitionistic, the outre and the promiscuous, visible and shocking,...will reinforce discriminatory laws and ignorant attack[s].”[p.92] A key leitmotif of this book is seeking “bridges” between gay and straight and between lesbians and gaymen. For us who are gay in rural America, our lack of gay and female social capital makes these bridges especially desirable. “We were none of us brought up to handle being outside the norm”[p.153] of heterosexism, but Harriet did it at age sixty and May Sarton, a long time resident of rural New England, continues to be a luminous hero- ine for this queen in Vermont. Richard Cornwall is a Professor of Economics at Middlebury College. o PEACE o ENVIRONMENT o FEMINISM o GREENS o HOUSING - E I- i; ‘MAVERICK BOOKSTORE Q E 209 COLLEGE ST. (UPSTAIRS) 9 é 658-2523 8 ‘£3 MONDAY—SATURDAY 12-6 5 0 AND FRIDAYS UNTIL 8 pm i; E I <( i- E New In Stock: _ N _ 0 , Armistead Maupin's ''Tales of the City series 8 5 Cut Outs and Cut Ups: Lesbian Fun and Games -5 g Rise up Singing (2) E And Lots More Lesbian and Gay Books! 8 0 Lu 5 0 FOOD/HUNGER o GAY 0 LESBIAN - NUCLEAR o ASIA 0 Gay Games Needs 1 994 Host Although Celebration ’90: Gay Games IH & Cultural Festival is still eight months away in August 1990 in Vancouver, the Federation of Gay Games has already be- gun the site selection process for Gay Games IV in 1994. Proposal guidelines are now available for organizations interested in hosting Gay Games IV in their city and country. The Federation’s search for the 1994 site has already attracted international attention. Cities in North America, Europe and the South Pacific have inquired about hosting guidelines. The extensive proposal guidelines for bidders seek information about the poten- tial host organization’s legal status, phi- losophy, administrative structure, commu- nity relations, financial strength, availabil- ity of sport and cultural facilities, as well as programmatic and promotional plans. Members of the Federation will be avail- able to assist groups preparing bids, which are due by April 1, 1990. “In terms of establishing an intema- tional image for gay and lesbian positive events, hosting Gay Games IV is a tremen- dous opportunity,” explains Federation Site Selection Committee Chair Richard Dopson. Dopson is a board member of Metro- politan Vancouver Arts & Athletics Asso- ciation, the group that is hosting Gay Games IH upcoming August 4-11, 1990. “By drawing together a diversity of re- sources, including athletic, cultural, busi- ness and tourism, a host city can draw public interest and increase community pride. The Gay Games are not just an ath- letic or cultural event, but a positive state- ment about our lifestyle,” he says. Once the Federation receives propos- als, it will review and rank them in prepara- tion for board action at its armual conven- tion in June in Denver, CO. Contract nego- tiations will follow, and at closing ceremo- nies of Celebration ’90, the Federation will announce the host for Gay Games IV. All organizations interested in hosting the next Gay Games can obtain site selec- tion proposal guidelines by writing The Federation of Gay Games, 584 Castro St. Suite 343, San Francisco, CA 94114.