that we touch upon is much, much greater
than the ten percent. I think we need to re-
member that. Politicians are starting to
understand it. One of the things that’s
been amazing to me this year is the niirn—
ber of people who have approached me
who are nmning for office, who say,
“What is it that I need to do to get the
word out to the gay community? I need
the gay community’s vote.” I feel that we
are perceived as a powerful, united voting
bloc.

OIT M: What is the effect of the campaign
on your personal life? Was it an issue two
years ago? Is it an issue now? In terms of
your partner in particular.

Russell: It’s an issue. It was an issue two
years ago. It’s an issue now. I would say
predominantly in terms of the time com-
mitment. You can know it and you can
plan ahead, but ultimately what comes up
is that virtually every evening from late
July until November and most weekends
are gone. That’s just a given. It’s a sac-
rifice. It puts tremendous strain on a re-
lationship. It puts a tremendous strain on
our relationship. It’s not as though there
aren’t enough strains on being in a gay re-
lationship, and it definitely adds to it.

OITM: What’s Brian’s role in the cam-
paign? Does he have one? The partner of
a gay politician is a role that basically
doesn’t exist, or hasn’t existed.

Russell: I’m not sure that his role is sig-
nificantly different than the partner of any
politician, and that varies tremendously.
Brian doesn’t have an official role. Brian
basically stays involved to the degree that
it makes sense for him at any particular
time, and does his best, I think, to get dis-
tance where he needs to. He comes to
campaign meetings, he gives input, he
goes to events with me when he feels like
it and doesn’t when he doesn’t feel like it.

OITM: I’ve heard that when you talked
about running again, Brian said he want-

Russell: When I hadn’t officially decided
but the question was seriously being con-
sidered again, I got together a group of
close friends and people who worked on
the campaign two years ago, and said,
“Let’s talk about this.” And people asked,
“What can we do? How can we support
both of you?” One of the things that hap-
pens to me in a campaign is that when I
get really crazy I begin to depend on
Brian for more and more things. That’s
stressful for me because I feel like it’s not
OK for me to ask Brian. I decided to do
this, and it’s not OK for me to ask him to
take on more. So I actually raised the is-
sue, and I said that what would probably
be the most supportive thing for our re-
lationship would be to find a volunteer to
come in and clean our house once a week.
And people just kind of jumped on it and
said, “Well, of course. You know, we
have lots of people that want to volunteer
in your campaign, and we’ll just put the
word out that we’re looking for is some-
one to come in and do cleaning once a
week and kind 0 just spruce your place
up.” And we have a volunteer who’s go-
ing to come in once a week and clean our
house. It’s wonderful. Brian is just beside
himself with excitement (laughs). I don’t
think _ he’s going to let me stop catn-
paignmg!

OIT M : Is it hard for you to go door—to-
door, to stand in front of the Grand Union,
to talk to strangers at a party? Is that a per-
sonal challenge?

Russell: Parts of it are. Going door—to-
door was one of the hardest things that I
had to get myself to do. It was absolutely
terrifying for me. Plus, growing up in
Vermont, one of the ultimate rules is that
you do not intrude on other people’s lives.
But I got very comfortable with it. The re-
ality is that it’s not very intrusive for most
people. You can do it in thirty seconds
and be gone. And some people were very
interested, and had lots of questions and
really wanted to engage you in conversa-
tion. I loved that. There are parts of it I

   

September 1992

 

Photo by Sage Russell

people about what I believe in. The other
thing I loved about going door—to-door
was that I got my stereotypes so chal-
lenged. I feel like I’ve got this idea of who
can support and who can’t support me as a
gay man. And I had so many stories of
that getting blown out of the water...l was
reminded over and over and over again
that we’re everywhere and you can’t tell
who we are. And when I say “we,” I mean
allies and family and friends and co-
workers. You can’t tell who our support-
ers are by looking. There are a whole lot
of people out there who are supportive
who fit the stereotype I have about non-
supporters. And that’s been really wonder-
ful. I like having that challenged for me. It
makes me braver about being who I am.

OITM: If you win your election and
you’re a member of the Senate, do you
have any sense of what your ultimate po-
litical aspirations will be?

1|.

ed some help with the meals. really loved because I felt like I got to Russell: My ultimate political aspiration is 
meet all these people that I never would to become a senator from Chittenden <
have met otherwise. And I like talking to County. It really is. I don’t want to do any- {I
Partners in Growth & Recovery, Inc.
, _ Family Therapists
David W. Curtis
Erica Marks, M.A., S.A.C., A.C.H.
ATTORNEY AT LAW Giita Clark’ MA.
I Sherry Hunt B.A., A.C.H.
Sheila Jacobs, M.A.
HOFF AGEL CURTIS PACHT & CASSIDY P.C. . . . . . .
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