Out in the Mountains

  
 

Dr. Tiffany Renaud
and
Dr. Mary C. Spicer

 

Center For Chiropractic
AHo|istic Health

“health care for the whole person”

We are honored to serve our community
and are committed to offering you
Gentle Effective Chiropractic
Plus...

- Applied Kinesiology

- Homeopathy

- Acupuncture

- Therapeutic Massage

- Nutritional Counseling

New Patients Welcome
4 San Remo Drive - So. Burlington, VT 05403
802-658-6092

L 

Eileen Blackwood
and

Pamela K raynale

are pleased to announce
the formation of their partnership

for the general practice of law

Blackwood and Kraynak
Attorneys at Law

84 Pine Street

P.O. Box 875
Burlington, VT 05402
(802) 863-2517

fax (802) 863-0262

 _j.

Car Vandalized

David Grist

When the headlight assembly and tail lights on Ed Brennon’s car
were smashed last summer, it looked like another random act of
violence. But when his tires were slashed in October, the mes-
sage was clear. The Burlington man came home from a Saturday
evening with friends to find three of his tires slashed and KILL
FAG BOY spray painted in black along the driver’s side of the
car. The other sides of the car were sprayed with the word FAG.

The car was parked in the lot at the back of Brennon’s Church
Street apartment. A neighbor heard noises and went outside to
investigate. The perpetrator fled, eluding the neighbor, who
chased him through the back yards on lower Church Street.

Left beside the car were a hammer, a screw driver, an empty can
of spray paint, and a bottle of corn syrup, which vandals use to
cause extensive engine damage by pouring it into the gas tank.
At press time, no one had been charged with the crime, but Bur-
lington Police were investigating.

After much thought, Brennon decided to go to the Burlington
Free Press with his story, which ran an item on the front of the
Vermont section. Instead of being an anonymous victim - a 26-
year old Burlington man — he was “Burlington resident Ed Bren-
non, who is gay.” “I felt like I might as well rent a billboard and
put it up downtown,” Brennon said. “I was kind of nervous. But,
if I hadn’t given my name, it wouldn’t have had any impact.”

Brennon, who just came out this year, says he has no regrets
about coming out or putting his name in the paper. “By stepping
back and being quiet, that doesn’t solve anything. But if I step
forward, maybe someone else will, too.” The day after Bren-
non’s car was vandalized, the back wall of Ohavi Zedek syn-
agogue in Burlington was painted with an anti-Semitic message.
This triggered religious leaders of many faiths to denounce both
hate-motivated acts.

“I never expected when I stepped forward that I would get this
much support and response,” Brennon told Molly Walsh in a
page-one follow-up story in the Free Press. “I think this is in-
credible.”

The gay community in the Burlington area pulled together for
Brennon, too. Four days after the incident, friends had as-
sembled more than 50 people for a spaghetti dinner/benefit that
raised $404, which covered the cost of fixing Brennon’s car.

“I felt that as a group, we could do something,” said Jonathan
Radigan, one of the men who organized the spaghetti dinner.
“So many people were so generous, and many of them didn’t
even know Ed.” Radigan supported Brennon’s decision to go to
the Free Press, although he was concerned about the possibility
of further reprisals. “It was the right thing for the community
and I’m happy it was the right thing for him,” Radigan said. “He
did a great service to gays, lesbians and bisexuals.”

So far, there have been many reprisals - most of them good,
Brennon said. “This has made me stronger. It has totally made
me more confident about coming out.” V