Harrigan and Baker Challenge the State ‘ continued from front page Peter: I don't think we have anything to lose as a gay and lesbian community. I only think we have things to gain by going through a process like this. OITM: Was it a difficult deci- sion to take this on? Stan: I think we had differing reactions. I grew up in a fam- ily where there was a lot of political and social action. So to me, taking on a cause felt fairly normal. On the other hand, we both needed to weigh the response we'd get in our workplaces and from our families. But it felt like a natu- ral thing and like the right thing to do, as though it had really come our way, almost by fate, and I think we both feel like our coming together has elements of fate as well. There was an awful lot to think about it. I wouldn't call it a difficult process, but it was a complex process. OITM: What is your role in the case? Peter: We're the faces, the neighbors, the citizens. Part of our job is to let people into our lives to the extent that we're comfortable with that so they'll see the value and the average- ness of us, sort of a wonderful averageness. So maybe they'll recognize patterns or elements of our relationship that they have in theirs. Stan: In a way, I think we be- long to the community in a dif- ferent way. I really want to honor that, but I also want to protect my own time and space....Already in the last week since the Uuly 23] press conference, we've done a vari- ety of interviews, gone to P- town to speak at a fundraiser, talked to you. I think our role is to be available as speakers and as faces and as mouth- pieces for this. . Peter: So often, when people hear about gay people, it's about Andrew Cunanan or Jef- frey Dahmer, or they're seeing the extremes in the community. They're not seeing the typical parts of the community, so I think that's part of what we bring to it. OITM: That's a fine line too — the whole question of what obligation we have to present a "normal" image. What if the interviewers came and you did have slings on the ceiling or dressed in drag? Stan: I think that's a ticklish area,»and I want to make it very clear that I see this as adding to diversity, not putting a strait jacket around anybody in the GLBT community, how they act or what they have to do. What I think it does do is that it provides an anchor that people in the straight commu- nity can see us from, that I think will increase their ability to see the whole rainbow. OITM: How do you respond to some of the criticisms within the GLBTQ community of the marriage debate — for ex- ample, that we should be look- ing at relationships, at domes- tic partnership, not at mar- riage? Stan: For me it's an issue of choice. We're creating a choice and dramatically pointing out an inequality in our society. Plus, I think domestic partner- ship has been a good move- ment, but it's still separate but equal. Back in the struggle for integration, when schools were segregated, one of the solu- tions that was put forth was "separate but equal.” I think separate but equal is not equal. I think it is saying stay in your place. So I think that true mar- riage, legal marriage, is equal. Peter: I think that everything that every group in the gay and lesbian community is working toward has some kind of con- nection or base in acceptance and respect. There are lots of different ways society can say "we accept you." Marriage is one of them. But I think even though different people and different groups in the commu- nity are working toward differ- ent goals, anything that re- duces homophobia and in- creases our recognition and our safety is a worthy thing. OITM: Do you think the issue is different for male couples than for female couples, given that some of the criticism is on marriage as a patriarchal insti- tution? Peter: I don't know. I can't speak for women. The two other couples in the suit are women. I know that it's im- portant for them to pursue the same legal issues. Stan: I think that there were many more women who wanted to be part of the suit than men. Peter: The President and a lot of the leaders of the [Freedom to Marry] Task Force are women. So I know that there are lots of women who directly support the idea and this par- ticular case. Stan: I also think there are other patriarchal institutions around. I think Voting is a partiarchal institution. OITM: How do you mean that? Stan: I think that voting was something that originally only men got toldo; most politicians are male; most of the people in » our political power structure are male. Outside of some an- archists, I don't hear people saying we shouldn't be chang- ing voting to become a more equal thing that includes all races and all sexes and that produces a political system that is more equal. In the same way, I don't see marriage as a static thing. Marriage is ever- evolving. It used to be that when men married women, women lost their rights. That got challenged; that's been MEET THE PLAINTIFFS, p10 OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — SEPTEMBER -1997 - 9 BETH ROBINSON LANGROCK SPERRY & WOOL ATTORNEYS AT LAW 15 SOUTH PLEASANT STREET MIDDLEBURY. VERMONT 05753 Budlngton Office: 275 College Street Burlington. Vermont 05402 802-864-021 7 Area Code: 802 Telephone: 388-6356 FAX»: 368-6149 BLACKWOOD AND KRAYNAK RC. ATTORNEYS AT LAW Eileen M. Blackwood Pamela Kraynak ~ Employment law - Education law - Wills, Relationship Contracts - Commercial & Residential Real Estate - Small Business l3l Main Street PO. Box 875 Burlington, VT 05402 (802) 863-2517 SUSAN M. 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