more than 25 g/I/b alumni who returned for the symposium were
joined by College President John McCardell. After the break, six
Middlebury alumni, graduates ranging from the class of 1966 through
1994, presented their academic works on topics ranging from
Shakespeare to Lesbian parenting in Vermont; changes in sodomy
statutes to a discussion of gay male pornography; how another small
liberal arts college dealt with queer issues to gay men — erotic conflict
and self-discovery.

The Keynote speaker for the day was Marshal Forstein, Middlebury
‘71, who spoke on normal homosexual development in a homophobic
society. Forstein is a teacher of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
as well as director of HIV Mental Health Services at the Cambridge
(Mass) Hospital. For a period in the l970’s, before medical school, he
even taught English at Middlebury Union High School. He has
published on the psychological effects of I-HV and AIDS and on gay
parenting. His address stressed that gay rights are about taking back
power which we have been taught we do not have a right to posses —
not about taking away someone else’s power. He also spoke about
society’s inability to tolerate difference or to even discuss sex or death.
He stressed his concern for gay youth, finding a way to give them hope
and to teach our gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth that even in our
AlDS—phobic world they had a right to live their lives — lives full of
happy and fulfilling sexual experiences.

Rose Troche, director of the feature film Go Fish, joined alumni,
students, faculty, and staff for dinner. The film, which was shown
twice later that evening, is a romantic comedy about young, post
ACT—UP dykes. Troche discussed her film, this year’s big hit at the
Sundance Film Festival, between showings. Many in attendance
agreed that Go Fish is “the lesbian film we’ve all been waiting for”.

On Saturday, the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights
(V CLGR) held its 2nd Annual Conference: A Queer Town Meeting
on campus at the invitation of College officials. It was attended by
more than 500 queer—folk and changed the climate of Middlebury for
at least one day. Same—sex couples walked hand-in-hand, men in drag
performed during a lunchtime fashion show, and lesbian mothers
pushed their children in strollers to workshops all over campus! It truly
wasn’t Kansas anymore. That fact played out as the momentum
continued into the evening with Beyond the Closet, a Middlebury
College student production of gay and lesbian scenes. The day was
topped by a dance sponsored by the College’s student GLB Alliance.
DJ Dina Saccucci spun tunes for Club Generation X — including some
from Madonna, Barry Manilow, and the Village People.

Ongoing throughout the Festival was an exhibit in the lobby of Starr
Library, “Que(e)rying Middlebury: In and Out of the Closet”, which
celebrated little known gay history at the College — faculty, staff,

January 1995

alumni, and even guest speakers. Middlebury librarians also pulled
together a bibliographical listing of the library’s resources on Gay and
Lesbian Studies.

Sunday, the Rainbow Festival concluded with a morning service in
Mead Chapel. Guest speaker Kim Crawford Harvie, Middlebury ‘79,
spoke on “Yes, you can!” Crawford Harvie, an out lesbian, is senior
minister at the Arlington Street Unitarian Universalist Churchin
Boston where the congregation has doubled in size since she
assumed the pulpit She received a Middlebury Alumni Achievement
Award and a First Decade Award from Harvard Divinity School in
1992. Her pink rhinestone triangle shown brightly in the sunlight as
she spoke. Following the service students, staff, faculty, alumni, and
guests gathered for brunch. There were speeches, lots of laughs, a few
tears, and many hugs before the Rainbow Festival formally came to
an end.

But good things do not always just end. As Dorothy did when she
crash-landed in Oz, Middlebury College opened its doors to the
technicolor reality of gay, lesbian, and bisexual lives during its
week-long Rainbow Festival. T—shirts, designed especially for the
Festival were colorfully emblazoned with the slogan: “The beauty of
geometry appears when its members come together in the same space
and yet remain discernible — the triangle rests there too”.

While as an alum and also an employee of the College who
recognizes that the world's not perfect, after such an empowering
week I conclude that there really is “no place like home!” - being
recognized as a special part of what makes that home complete and
knowing that I belong there too! V

De. séaaécuatot 5. Séelfleyi

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