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VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 4

 

 TIP: Old H

 To many people in the

Pro Choice struggle or the gay

G  rights movement, Take It To
1  The People may have an eerie

. familiarity. The group, of
V F”" e'e‘t'°” whichonlyahandfulofpeople
coverage

are willing to identify them-

have a great deal of support.

H E & But the names of those who do
step forward, are ones we may
WE L L“  have heard before.

V Dealing With Thomas McCormick is
Death the registering agent with the

P24 state for Take it To the People.

In his previous incarnation he
was a member of The Vermont
ARTS 8‘ Right To Life Committee.

V Yo|anda Rocks was the lawyer for, among
G od da rd other people, a print shop that

refused to print Pro Choice
P11 material, as well as the 13
people who stormed the Ver-
¥I'°'IEc'::_sFRoM mont Women's Health Center
' . .- '1989,' '1' f -

v The ongmr :2...-..-.;:.;;: 2:31; 
BOY Scouts terms of release for previous

p5 violations.
One of those arrested

Queer Studies Remains 61
Progressive Thcmg

BY MICHAEL C. ALBERO

Shhhhh! Quiet. Can you hear it? Inside a college classroom,
a group of students is actually discussing the history of homo-
sexuality. And the professor is in the room! What would once
have been unthinkable is now actually happening at several 10-
cal institutions. A little late, but better than never. Indeed, queer
history is finally making its way out of the bars and into the
minds of eager students at Vermontfs more ”progressive” col-
leges. Q

Located in the southern part of the state, Marlboro Col-
lege is relatively isolated behind Vermont wilderness, but the
birth of Queer Studies has occurred with a recent course en-
titled ”Sexualities and Identities: A Seminar.” Facilitated by
Vivian Blaxwell, a professor of Asian Studies, the course is taught
regularly every two years, but the subject matter often evolves
from student interests. ”Much of the class looks at queemess
and transgenderism because of the current political and cultural
issues surrounding sexuality,” states Blaxwell. A variety of texts
are used in this study, including Kate Bornstein’s Gender Out-
law and Sue Ellen Case's Domain Matrix. Yet, despite the suc-
cess of this course, it is Blaxwell’s belief ”that classes and re-
search about queer sexualities brings both faculty and students
under suspicion. I am often the butt of slightly ribald jokes by
my colleagues and students for my continuing interest in teach-
ing and talking about sexuality.” -

Melissa Ragona, a Cultural Studies professor at Goddard
College, can relate to Blaxwell’s plight. ”They (professors and
students) think" that you're obsessed with sex.... Sex with Ameri-
can society is still very taboo.... (Queer Studies) pushes our theory
of difference beyond dichotomous thinking/1’ Ragona has had a
difficult time being taken seriously, especially last semester when
she initiated a panel discussion concerning queer theory. Sev-
eral heterosexual colleagues were genuinely too embarrassed
to assist in the program. ”Only after the discussion did the com-
munity finally realize that we had something important to say...

P1; 10 selves as members, claims ‘to-

ENTEBTAINMENT While on that committee, he

  

was Dick Trudell of Grande
Isle, who has also claimed
membership in Take It To The
People. Trudell was arrested
for numerous infractions, in-
cluding simple assault on a
police officer, and impeding a
police officer, violation of the
conditions of release on a pre-
vious charge of unlawful tres-
pass, as well as three accounts
of trespass.

Thomas McCormick was
the lawyer in this case, and
Trudel1’s charges were
dropped in what appears to
have been a plea bargain.
Peggy Luhrs, defended herself
against a protester, and was
charged with assault. Accord-
ing to her, McCormick not only
defended the protesters, but
was part of the prosecution in
her case. Trudell had his
charges dropped, Luhrs didn't.

According to one ob-
server who spoke on condition
of anonymity, "McCormick is
smart and a good lawyer. He's

not like Nancy Sheltra and

these others.”

Some observers note that

it has been a national trend
among the Operation Rescue
and other right-wing_ extrem-
ists who fought against abor-
tion and lost to sit back, lick
their wounds and target the
GLBT communities.

”They feel humiliated,
and now they are looking for a
fresh enemy to attack with the
same level of fervor. Only this
time they have everything they
learned from fighting and los-
ing the abortion fight.”

This is most evident from
the 100,000 fliers that they dis-

tributed in newspapers state-

wide. The flier is well worded

and contains the usual images Q

of flag waving hands and hid-
den statements that they have
found successful. The implica-
tions are very clear, that ”Gay
Rights advocacy groups are
trying to force the legalization
of"same sex marriage’ by do-
ing an end run around

,Vermont’s citizens.”

The flier and the 100,000-
plus copies that have been dis-
tributed around the state rep-
resent the beginning of a pro-
paganda blitz similar to the
one seen in Maine over the ref-
erendum that repealed that

state's gay rights law, and in

Hawaii since the beginning of
its fight for marriage.

TIP has stated repeatedly
that it receives no money from
out of state, yet the $8,000 or

BEHIND, p4