Notes From The Task Force

BY BARI SHAMAS "I

Media Coverage

This month's column be-
gins with a brief look at the vis-
ibility of the freedom to marry
issue around the state. There
follows _a brief update on Baker

v. State and a wonderful nar—i
rative by Angie Dodd. She pre—.

pared it for a panel and discus-
sion evening held in
Brattleboro on May .1st. I've
chosen to reprint it here in part
because there was no local
media coverage of this event.

In fact, media coverage
and general visibility around
the state leaves much to be de-
sired. Although 29 people at-
tended the panel discussion in
Brattleboro, one of which was
a reporter from the Brattleboro
Reformer, the event was not
covered by the paper. Organiz-
ers in the southeastern corner

have noticed a rash of disap-
pearing flyers. Posters adver-
tising Gay Bingo were re_-
moved from public places on
repeated occasions. Press re-
leases to the local free Town
Crier are repeatedly rejected for
publication. And after agreeing
to broadcast the VFMTF video
The Freedom to Marry: A Green
Mountain View on a regular
basis, Brattleboro Community
Television claims to have lost
the tape after a single showing.
This is a disturbing trend
which we hope is not occur-
ring everywhere.

On a positive note, Lois
Farnham and Holly
Puterbaugh, two of the plain-
tiffs suing‘Vermont for the
right to be civilly married, and
Susan Murray, one of their law-
yers, appeared ‘ on Jeff
Kaufman's Talk of Vermont TV
show .on ETV on Thursday,
May 2]. Beth Robinson, an-
other of the attorneys, is sched-
uled to appear on the same
show on June 2.

Ifyou know of other in-
stances of media obstruction,
please pass them on to the Task
Force. If you have attempted to
secure local media coverage or
have simply posted for an up-
coming event, take some extra
time to check up on your pub-
licity. We are grateful to Out In
The Mountains for its coverage
of this issue and for this space
to keep you informed of Task
Force happenings.

Many of you are asking,
"What is up with Baker v.
State?”. The case is still in the
Vermont Supreme Court.
There is one more stage of writ-
ten briefs waiting to be pre-
sented. The plaintiffs(that’s

who we are cheering for) have
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an opportunity to respond _.to
the state's, arguments. There,
are now also ten amicus curiae
(friend of the court) briefs sup-
porting the state’s ‘position.
Lawyers Beth Robinson, Susan
‘Murray and  Bonato have
a BIG and sometimes, over-.
whelming job in front of them.
When will the oral arguments
happen? Nobody knows for
sure. The arguments are likely
to be scheduled for the fall. We
are in the process of loading
the various briefs in the case
onto our web site. Check http:/
/www.vtfreetomarry.org to
look them over.

A Personal Story

Following is a story
shared by Angie Dodd at the
May 1st panel discussion in
Brattleboro. She and her fellow
panelists Michael Gigante and
Rev. Catherine Cadieux be
speaking again in Bellows Falls
on Friday, June 26. See the cal-
endar for this and other
VFMT F events and meetings.

I came to Vermont in 1983
with my family when I was 13
years old. My primary interest in
life is farming and gardening, and
I have worked in various aspects
ofVermont agriculture the past
11 years. My passion is to partici-
pate in and promote local, sustain-
able food production. As a farmer
and a gardener I have studied
aboutand seen first-hand the ben-
efit and necessity of biological di-
versity to living systems. I like to
think of diflerent varieties of lin-
mans as similar to plant variet-
ies, each with their proper niche
and fulfilling their destiny as part
of the infinitely complex web of
life. We all play off each other and
depend on one another, both physi-
cally and ideologically.

I love weddings. In my ex-
perience, weddings are the most
honest and heartfelt ways that our
society publicly celebrates love.
Generations come together, hope
and optimism rule the day, and the
spirit of love is ceremonially called

forth for everyone to witness and
to share.

A couple of years ago I at-
tended my first lesbian. wedding.
The bride I was connected with
was Sarada, and old friend from
Bellows Falls High who at the
time was in chiropractic school
down in Georgia. She and her
partner put their wedding to-
gether in between classes, work
and homework. It was a beautiful
event. Chairs were set up in the
backyard of a friend, and when the
stereo started to play ‘Your love is
sweeter than chocolate... ” the two

hides §'!IeIS€.4.ffQ'l? tlz<:.lzou:2e-_<‘1..s..,

1'4 I1,‘ _

I looked from their beaming faces
to the small crowd of friends,;to

Nthe waiting minister, I wept.’ _

No family was present fivin
either side. I felt such sadness, and
such pride in Sarada ’s strength
and determination. I never fel t the

.true essence ofa wedding so

strongly — two people joining their
lives together to shelter one an‘-'
other with their love frontthe
meanness of the world.

My tears turned to laugh-‘

ter later in the day as I watched
Sarada, in full wedding regalia,

pacing up and down the porch and ,

chewing out the manager of the
local deli over the cordless phone.
It seemed that a plate of hors
d ’ouvres had failed to arrive. The
platter soon showed up, with
apologies and a steep discount.
[grinned broadly to see
Sarada and Sandee Linn, her new
wife, posing for campy wedding
photos. I took my souvenir pin
fivm a basket profifered by one of
Rada’s friends, and it read ”I at-
tended a lesbian wedding in Cobb
County, Georgia!” .
It was a wonderful day, an
the fact that this event was com-
pletely illegal gave me such a feel-
ing of flat despair that I wondered
if I ’d ever have the courage to do
what Sarada did. When we were
in high school together, she was
harassed and even assaulted be-
cause other kids suspected her les-
bianism. We all knew that coni-
ing out in Bellows Falls was a
dangerous act. Not too much lzas
changed, but there are places in
Vermont today where people can
express diflferent sexualities in
relative safety.
For our society to deny ac-
ceptance to people's diflerent sexu-

alities is like trying to grow a .

mono crop of one plant variety. In
farming we learn that without the
checks and balances provided bya
diverse biological community,
pathogens build up in the soil and
its fertility becomes depleted. Soil
is the basis for all I ife on earth; we
depend on its health for our sur-
vival.
Diverse expressions of life
are good for Earth '5 soil, and simi-
larly diverse expressions of love
are healthy for the human soul.
My belief is that two same-gen-
der people want to get married and
the society denies them accep-
tance, there is a certain amount of
soul-depletion suffered there. In
farming, we debate and experi-
ment with soil-building tech-
niques. in this case, we are experi-
menting with techniques in soul-
building. In my opinion, civil
marriagefor same-gender couples
should be legal and respected in
pyr society.

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OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS: — JUNE 1998 - 23

Safe Schools:
Youth Fight Back

I Gov. Dean & Commissioner of Education
Advocate for GLBTQ Youth

BY ANDREW J. CAMPBELL OITM YOUTH EDITOR

MONTPELIER — Vermont's GLBTQ youth are fighting hard for
safer schools. Through meetings with the Governor, the Com-
missioner of Education and State Legislators, our youth have
made a positive impact on the lives of all gay,.lesbian, bisexual,
transgendered and qiiestioning people. Because of these won-
derful achievements, among others, Out in the Mountains found
itnecessary to appoint a Youth Editor. As a premiere/I will back-
track slightly to report the amazing accomplishments already

then follow up on recent events.

As I-reported in the January edition of Out in the Mann-

tains, seventeen GI.-‘BTQ youth met with Governor Howard Dean

this past November. He ex—. ~
~ pressed great support for gay/ «

straight alliances and took a “These  
firm stand against homopho- 1 ~

bic harassment in schools. “At _ ' ' '

the meeting with Governor excltlng  

Dean," accounits Cindy ‘
Marcelle, a teenager from New
Haven, ’’I stopped seeing him
as’ a man on the 6:00 news. I
started seeing him as a father,
an ally; and most of all, as a’
friend.” Sincethen, Dean has
written a letter to school prin-
-cipals in support of GLBTQ youth and worked with Marc Hull,
the Commissioner of Education. A ~

On March 11, several GLBTQ teenagers from around the
state met with Marc Hull. The discussion was held at the-home
of Jean and George Olson and organized by Outright Vermont.
In the first hour of the meeting, youth discussed important is-
sues they face‘ every day. They ‘described their experience in

public schools, drawing a powerful picture of the harassment
occurring and the traumatic effects of it. The Commissioner ap-
peared enlightened and concerned about the issues facing
GLBTQ youth.

Later, the teenagers were joined by GLBT and ally adults -
among them: teachers, school nurses, a principal, State person-
nel, direct service providers, parents and other concerned people.
Gay and lesbian teachers talked about the difficulties they have
had with homophobic coworkers, students and community
members. They accounted experiences where GLBTQ students
have come to them for support, but they weren't able to come
out or provide support in fear of losing their jobs. Staff from
Outright Vermont and other service providers expressed con-
cern about the difficulty getting information, resources and sup-
port into public schools.

An important topic of the evening with Marc Hull was non-
discrimination and anti-harassment policies. Using Vergennes
Union High School as an example, youth demonstrated to the
Commissioner how non-discrimination policies often fail to in-
clude ”sexual orientation” in the clause, even though State Law
requires it. In the case of Middlebury UHS, among others, this

GLBTQ youth”
Tami Eldridge,
Outright Verinont.

printed material. Even more detrimental, some schools don't
include ”sexual orientation” in their anti-harassment policies,
also required by law. The Commissioner is committed to seeing
this is changed as soon as possible. Currently, both of the above
mentioned schools have been notified; Vergennes has updated
their policy, but Middlebury has failed to take action.

Marc Hull, a man from a conservative religious back-
ground, explained that he is going through a learning process.

. He has a close personal coinnectioniwith someone who is gay,
and has seen this person struggle through difficult times. In the
discussion, he listened and responded, not on a political basis,
but on a caring personal level. Marc felt that this meeting was
about "learning, and loving, and caring." ,-

In related news, GLBTQ youth and their allies assembled
at the State House on Wednesday, April 15 for Visibility Day.
They talked with legislators and other representatives about
GLBT issues. Additionally, there was another meeting with the
Governor. Dean proclaimed that he would stand up for GLBTQ
youth. By request, he will visit schools to speak out against ho-
mophobia and speak up for gay/straight alliances. He also
agreed to make a personal telephone call to any school dealing
with serious homophobic conflicts. The Governor expressed

’-"$!'i"9"‘§L

vouru, p25

made by GLBTQ youth and the people who work with them,

basis was included in the official policy, but left out on public‘