Out in the Mountains

 

Gay & Lesbian Workshops at ABE Conference

Charles Emond

A few months ago, I was in a planning
session for the annual statewide Adult Ba-
sic Education Conference, when I was
struck with the idea of offering a work-
shop on the topic of Gay and Lesbian His-
tory. Our organization has been around
for about 25 years, but the topic, even the
very word, “Gay” has never been uttered
to my knowledge in connection with our
conference... or, come to think of it, any-
where else! At previous conventions, I
had been tempted to wear a pink triangle
or to try to organize a caucus of some
sort, but I never took that step.

I was motivated by several factors in tak-
ing this step. Firstly, since I have been
out to my colleagues at work for a few
years now, and have had nothing but
support from them, it seemed a logical
next step to come out on a state-wide
scale. Secondly, I had overheard, a few
months previous to this, a remark by a
teacher in our area regarding a possibly
gay volunteer that worried me. I also
heard of two other situations in which
being gay appeared to have been a prob-
lem for some of the people involved.
Lastly, prompted by my deep interest in
history (I currently teach a Foundations
of Western Civilization course for the
Community College of Vermont) I had
recently applied to CCV to teach a new
course entitled, Hidden History: Homo-
sexuality in Western Civilization.

All this worked together to influence me

to propose this radical workshop at the-

next planning meeting. I knew I had
friends around the table, but I was truly
surprised at the overwhelmingly positive
reaction to my proposal. The others on
the planning committee encouraged me
to expand it to two workshops, one on
History and one on Issues. They took a
straw poll of who would attend various
workshops and my proposed workshops
got the highest number of votes, they in

essence built the conference around my
workshops setting them up first in a
prime time slot on Friday morning. I
walked out of that meeting on a cloud!

During the time between that final plan-
ning session and the sending out of the
Convention brochures to the teachers in
our organization all over the state, I
spent my time putting together a major
display of gay and lesbian resources and
myth-busting posters, including the gen-
erous donation of 70 issues of OIT M. I
got brochures from Integrity, PFLAG
and other groups and a great deal of help
and encouragement from the congrega-
tion of MCC in the Mountains.

I also set up a panel for the Issues Work-
shop which included a male couple, a fe-
male couple and several gay and lesbian
tutors who work for ABE. The Rev.
Fairbum Powers of MCC in the Moun-
tains also agreed to participate as did
Rep. Ron Squires. Unfortunately, Ron
was busy fighting flu and the Re-
publicans and had to send his regrets.

The first day of the conference, I arrived
very early and chose a good location for
my display. It featured a large pink tri-
angle and was mainly done in white and
black with pink and lavender accents as
needed. It had a section with brochures
on Gay Christians, with MCC prom-
inently displayed. A display addressing
Gay Teens had reprints of articles on the
topic and PFLAG brochures. There was
a long list of gay and lesbian people who
have contributed to the course of West-
ern Civilization and our culture, and a
very brief outline survey of Gay and
Lesbian History. In the center was a bold
statement of what being gay is and is not
and a statement that the display was
mainly for the benefit of those who
needed to better understand our gay

adult students, gay co-workers, families
and friends. On the table, prominently
displayed, was a stack of OITM.

As the day went on, I noted that many
conference participants stopped to pick
up every handout and brochure on the ta-
ble. I ended up bringing back very few of
the 50 or 60 copies I had set out of each
brochure or handout. And of the 70 or so
copies of OITM I started with, only a
dozen or so remained.

The display was widely and positively
commented upon. I was more than once
thanked, by gay and non-gay people
alike, for doing it. The comments always

included the statement that it was about 3

time and that it really needed to be done.
I am happy to say thatl got no negative

comments at all, although I have not yet i

read the conference evaluations. I did
hear of a few gmmblings about the ap-
propriateness of this kind of topic for an
All-State ABE Conference, but they
were minor and from an expected quar-
ter. I am also sure that at least a third of
the participants who passed the display a
dozen times during the weekend did not
stop, but I feel that they cannot but have
been affected by the generally positive
reception of the display and the work-
shops by so many of their colleagues.

The workshops went precisely as I had
planned. Dressed in my best “presenters”
outfit (a coat and tie) I began with a
small cut from the documentary, “Before
Stonewall,” and broke in by asking,
“Who are these people anyway’? What
can they possibly have contributed to the
course of Western Civilization? and

didn’t gay love start with the hippies in :

the free love days of the 60’s?”

I proceeded to answer these questions
and many others by defining homo-

Montpelier

802-229-5220

Indviduals, Couples 8 Families

Licensed Psychologist Certified Mental
Certified Alcohol Counselor Health Counselor !
Josie Juhasz, MA CCMHC
Feminist Psychotherapy ‘ AC%:A'U1:IENg§£YLIgg§JES
- DEPRESSION

Milton, VT

Some insurance (802) 8934816

accepted

Janet K. Bl‘0WI‘I,MA.,C.A.C Jean Townsend, M.A.

Individuals Couples Families

Burlington, VT
( 802) 863-8162

J
I
s