Out in the Mountains

Controversy at the Quilt:

Continued from page 1

Deborah Dudley, co—chairperson of the VCLGR board, admitted that
the letter "was written in the heat of the moment. We were very
upset at the circumstances at the time." Dudley stated that the letter,
proposed at a general meeting and written by four members of the
board, was completed within several days of the event and "focused
on what didn't happen as opposed to what did. In retrospect, we
should have been much more appreciative and thanked all the people
involved who worked so hard to bring the Quilt here  They did
work tremendously hard."

"We were disappointed by the restriction of prevention activity,"
stated Tim Palmer, Executive Director of Vermont CARES and
reader at the opening ceremonies for the Quilt. He went on to say,
however, that, "St. Michael's does deserve credit. In 15 years of the
epidemic, no other institution has brought the Quilt to Burlington."
Palmer had no problem with freely speaking about safer sex and
prevention of HIV infection while manning a table during Friday’s
exhibition. Individuals who asked questions were verbally given any
information they wanted without any hassles or objections from the
St. Michael's‘ staff.

Bob Pine, a member of the Washington, D.C.-based Names Project
organization and Quilt Display Coordinator (QDC) for the St.
Michael's Quilt display, stated that HIV and AIDS education is not
one of the prime directives of the organization. "It recently was
added as a fourth objective on our list of goals, but was not

AN ENCCIRE

Q

originally part of the
organization's intent.  The
purpose of the Quilt is to link
the Quilt with the pandemic by
putting it in context of how
large the AIDS crisis is."

Pine went on to say that he
hoped the atmosphere the Quilt
provided would encourage
people who are interested in
safe sex information to link-up
and make contact with people
and organizations that could
provide that information.

A tradition initiated by the
Names Project in which panel
openers at opening ceremonies
wear white clothing also
became an issue. The very first
Quilt display had white
walkways placed between the
Quilt panels and Quilt workers
wore white so as not to detract
attention from the colorful
panels themselves. Some have
been concerned that the
wearing of white does not take
into consideration the native or
traditional colors of various

groups or people of nationalities
that may be represented at the
ceremonies.

Former VCLGR board member
Judith Beckett felt strongly
enough about the issue to do
some research on the subject
herself. After getting conflicting
answers from the San Francisco
offices of the Names Project,
Beckett felt the best way to
address her concerns was with a
handout outside the Quilt
auditorium. Her handout also
contained strong language and
images meant to make her point
that the "purity" many people
associate with the color white
may have negative tones for
people of color: "We were told
it is a ‘tradition’ to wear white
because white was worn at the
very first opening ceremony.
Racism is a tradition, too."

Project Remembrance, aware of
this concern, had also contacted
the San Francisco offices and
learned that the wearing of
white was not a mandatory

PERFORMANCE

“...A WIIIRLD

requirement at the opening
ceremonies. In fact, a number of
groups including some members
of VCLGR, certain foreign
representatives, as well as
members of ALANA
(African/Latin/Asian/Native
Americans), did not wear white
during the ceremony.

While Beckett still serves as
VCLGR’s volunteer coordinator,
and used this credential on her
leaflet, she was adamant in affirming
that the leaflet and its distribution
were her own responsibility as a
result of personal conviction. "In the
gay and lesbian community, we all
have important concerns that
shouldntbeignored justbecauseit is
a small group that has the concern."
She conveyed her feeling that the
diversity of the gay/lesbian
community is part of its strength,
even when that diversity means
differences of opinion.

As Quilt Display Coordinator,
Pine was aware of many of these
conflicts. His main concern was
that literature such as Beckett's
was not fair to the Names Project
because it did not allow for
rebuttal. His overall response to
the event, however, was positive.
"It was an amazing display. You
could say that the St. Michael's
display was a model for how the
Quilt can obtain its objectives.
The organization of the host
comrrrittee was exemplary in the
way that they planned months in
advance. The people are to be
commended on their devotion
and the effect that was able to be
attained by the Quilt." V

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