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Picture this. In celebra-
tion of International Women's
Day I got to sit in the cozy
lounge of the elegant yankee
Chellis House (now trans-
formed into a women's center)
at Middlebury College on com-
fortable overstuffed furniture
surrounded by over 20 bright
minds and rap about Revolu-
tion for 2 hours. What a gift -
thanks to MOQA, Middlebury
Open Queer Alliance, who in-
vited me down to share some
thoughts about feminism with
young activists.

Revolution is one of
those words that is definitely
out of style in this era of em-
bracing diversity, freedom to
marry, drag balls. Revolution
was associated with the 1960's
and 70's when dismantling the
patriarchy seemed imminent
and dyke separatists domi-
nated the streets. Now separat-
ism is regarded as simplistic,
intolerant, too narrow a world
view, and, most of all, unreal-
istic. As one honest guy said
(yep, there were guys in the
room that night willing to en-
tertain notions of radical femi-
nism along with the rest of us,
which gave me hope): ’’I’m
sick of the word ‘Revolution!

“ Rfiifdturron

My dad was in the SDS and
now all he wants to do is just
lead a quiet life. What's wrong
with that?” Excellent question.
A lot of us who were once rav-
ing activists now just long to
settle into quiet lives of medi-
tation, raising kids, and plant-
ing our gardens, leaving all
that confrontation and anger
behind.

And yet I also heard:
”This is amazing! I never get
to sit in a room full of people
and talk about Revolution any-
more. I have so much energy
now I'don’t know what to do
with myself. Will you come
back to our house so we can
talk about Revolution all
night?” This was not simply an
intellectual exercise. We didn't
debate the fine points of the
definition of that ambiguous
word. I did throw out some
broad concepts, like there's a
difference between Revolution
and reform, ‘or that Revolution,
in my mind, is related to con-
fronting male domination in all
its guises both within and
without. But, fortunately, I left
it up to them to debate the de-
tails. Instead, I apparently
helped inspire hope among
these restless activists who find

themselves hemmed in by a
conservative, elitist institution
earnestly attempting to acquire
an education despite the gen-
eral lack of support from the
administration around com-
bating homophobia, classism
and racism. I was surprised to
learn that UVM was regarded
as a lot more open-minded
than Middlebury, but I guess
I'm a little naive. (Liberalism
will fool you every time.)
What kind of hope? Well,
for one thing, I assured them
that entertaining notions of
Revolution personally gives
me great joy in my 50's. (I won-
der if that ex-SDS dad needed
to just refine his concept of
Revolution instead of giving
up on it. Maybe it's not about
lobbing bombs. Maybe it's
more about getting out from
under corporate; or, if you will,
patriarchal, numbness in a
much more playful way?) I as-
sured them that, although we
may be fewer in number and
out of style, there is a remnant
of us who still are willing to
think about the big picture be-
yond Ellen Degeneris and do-
mestic partner benefits doled
out by (ugh) managed care

  

CRow’sCAws
by crow cohen

  

corps. Not to knock civil rights,
mind you, nor the hard, dedi-
cated work by our fellow ac-
tivists in obtaining them for all
of us. But what about vision-
ary thinking? For example, in-

stead of picturing ourselves I

totally accepted by the main-
stream (or ”malestream” as my
radfem sisters might call it, or
maelstrom for that matter)
why not form little groups to
create erotic fantasies based on
equality rather than ”consent”
for dominance,/submission
which is all we've ever known?

I do know that most of us
felt pretty ”turned on” after
our passionate exchange. I also
know that we all long for tight
political communities that
seemed to dissipate during the
Reagan / Bush years or trans-
formed into theories that, not
coincidentally, tend to leave
out the word ”feminism” let
alone ”radical feminism” let
alone ”lesbian feminism.”
That's not OK with me. I long
for the day when radical femi-
nist theory will re-emerge from
backlash and once again begin
to pepper our GLBT minds
with gentle, peace loving, sexy
urges to overthrow! 1

Ex-gay scheduled

continued from front page

cal Association, which listed it as a dan-
gerous practice.

Williams himself only admits to a
30 percent success rate, He describes
success either as “becoming heterosexual,
or remaining celibate." He said his num-
bers were compiled over the past four
years since New Journey was founded in
Jericho.

When the plans to present Will-
iams’ point of view to the students at
Mount Mansfield became known, Outright
Vermont, through a concernedfaculty
member, provided school administrators
with documentation about the danger of
reparative or conversion therapy‘, which
New Journey attempts to practice. The
American Psychological Association has
come out against ex-gay ministries as
dangerous and false.

There remains dispute about who
was responsible for scheduling the
speaker, although it was clear that
Corasaniti and school board member
Wolcott ‘Tut’ Parmly were the active forces
in recruiting Williams.

Parmly said he asked his pastor,
Peter Anderson, to help him find some-
one to balance Mitchell's expected mes-

A sage. “I don't believe in the lifestyle, but

they should be heard," Parmly said. He
said that both the committee that orga-
nized Awareness Week and the school
board itself agreed to the anti-gay
speaker's appearance.

But School Board Chairman Rich
Reed said that simply was not the case.
“Unfortunately what happened was that an
adult got involved in the process," Reed
said. Parmly was not acting as a- school
board member when dealing with the is-
s_ue, Reed said. “We support and encour-
age presenting two sides of a topic. We
do not endorse anyone specifically who
comes down on either side of the issue,"
he added.

This sentiment apparently was
presented by Parmly to the committee. Still,
he did not choose to offer two sides to any
other topic addressed during Awareness
Week, including racism or drug use.

Williams will not give much detail
on his qualifications to counsel high school
students. He will not say what his coun-
seling training is but says that his experi-
ence includes 12 years as a pastor of the
Churches Of Christ, high school teaching
— although he won't say where — and
that he himself is “ex-gay."

Williams said he that he does not
represent himself as a counselor but as a
“pastoral worker.” He said New Journey
has a six-member board, but he would not
reveal who is on it, except for the presi-
dent, Craig Benson. Benson also is co-
founder of Take It To The People, which is
organizing against the gay marriage law-
suit.

Tami Eldridge, Outright director,
said she was shocked that Mount
Mansfield administrators would present a
program such as reparative therapy to
youth who might be grappling with the
confusing issues of sexuality.

‘We found it unconscionable that
in the light of this information school ad-
ministrators chose to go ahead with Mr.
Williams’ presentation," Eldridge said. “By
scheduling him to appear, school officials
sent a message that despite all the evi-
dence to the contrary, it is their belief that
it is possible to change orientation, that
homosexuals should want to change and
that homosexuals who do not have the
desire or ability to change are somehow
bad, deficient, immoral, etc."

Vermont Law
continued from front page

students, promoted a resolution urging the
AALS to initiate political and legal action
against the Solomon Amendment at its an-
nual meeting held this past January. In an
unusual show of urgency, the AALS’ mem-
bers waived the normal 45-day delibera-

tion period and adopted Wroth's resolu-
lion, on a nearly unanimous vote.

While there isa great sense of
pride on the VLS campus in the aggres-
siyeness of the dean, there is also some

recognition that his leadership brought the /

school to the attention of the JAG Corps,
and on January 30"‘ the JAG Corps an-
nounced its intention to conduct interviews
on campus just ten days later.

The Alliance,«unable to reach con-
sensus among its membership in favor of
any kind of political or civil rights protest,
chose instead to focus its energies on
establishing educational opportunities il-
luminating the plight of gays and lesbians
in today's military. Caught between the
proverbial rock and a hard place, the VLS
Administration announced its intention to
temporarily suspend the school's anti-dis-
crimination policy, allowing the JAG Corps
to recruit on campus, while publicly en-
couraging active demonstrations of pro-
lest.

Susan lrish didn't need much en-
couragemenl. Dismayed by the concilia-
tory stance of the Alliance and horrified
that the school would abandon its anti-dis-
criminalion policy, lrish, a minister, inde-
pendently organized a well-attended pro-
test and vigil for the day of the interviews.
The vigil, which lrish envisioned as a
“quiet, non-violent protest" included a dis-
cussion of the Solomon Amendment led
by Associate Professor Greg Johnson, a
time of silence in honor of gays in the mili-
tary who have been abused and killed out
of prejudice and fear, and the sharing of
personal stories of discrimination in the
military by students.

Another student, Andrew
Tarasevich, appreciative‘ of the vigil, de-
cided it would be insufficient. “When I
found out that JAG had notified the school
they were coming, if sunk in that there was
nobody who would actually take a stand
and try to challenge them. It seemed like
the prevailing argument was that to not
allow JAG to come would somehow dis-
advantage those students who wanted to
interview. The problem with this argument
is that there is no reason those students

couldn't interview off campus." In fact, VLS
students had in recent years routinely in-
terviewed off campus for JAG positions,
most often in Boston.

JAG gave just ten days notice of
their visit, and Tarasevich wasn't sure
where to start. After educating himself
better on the issues confronting the school,
he turned his attention to what legal ac-
tions might be appropriate, and how best
to implement them in the Vermont courts.
On Friday, February 6"‘,Tarasevich filed a
handwritten motion requesting a tempo-
rary restraining order against the VLS
Board of Trustees, the President of the
Board, and Dean Wrolh to uphold the anti-
discrimination policies of the school. His
motion, brought before ‘Judge Alan
Cheever of Windsor Superior Court, was
denied without explanation.

The next Monday morning, the day
of the scheduled interviews, Tarasevich
appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court
for an emergency restraining order, and
was heard by Associate Justice James L.
Morse. Opposing counsel was provided,
ironically enough, by a partner of the
Burlington law firm Hoff, Curtis, Cassidy,
Pacht & Frame, a firm with a local reputa-
tion for being supportive of gay and les-
bian causes, once having taken the lead
in Vermont's single—parent adoption case.
Now the firm was in the incomprehensible
position of arguing in favor of suspending
the anti-discrimination policy of VLS, in
effect welcoming a known perpetrator of

discrimination against gays and lesbians -

to the South Royalton campus, in viola-
tion of not just the VLS policy, but also,
many believe, Vermont's anti-discrimina-
tion statute, which prohibits discrimination
in public accommodations.

in his decision, Justice Morse
failed to address the merits of the case,
instead suggesting_that it would be incon-
venienfto prevent discrimination:“Consid-
ering the imminent commencement of the
recruitment interviews and the lateness of
the petitioner's request to prevent them
from occurring, and balancing the com-

VERMONT, p26