.6 Outiri-the Mountains April 2000

  

Religion, Marriage, and Law Panel Draws crowd in Brattleboro

BY TOM THOMAS

n overflow crowd of
Amore than 200 people
attended the forum
“Religion, Marriage, and the
Law” at the Gibson Aiken
Center in Brattleboro on March
3.

Organized and sponsored
the Vermont Freedom to Marry
Task Force and the Social
Responsibility Committee of
the All Souls Unitarian
Universalist Church, the
forum’s purpose was to engage
in civil discussion -- respecting
opinions on both sides -- of
same-gender marriage.

Although the original intent
was to have a panel of six
speakers -- two church leaders
and one legislator on either
side of the issue -- the evening
actually saw five speakers.
Episcopal priest Jean Jersey,
Rabbi Noah Kitty and Rep.
David Deen, D-Westminster,
spoke for same-gender mar-
riage. High profile opposition
groups such as Take It To The
People and the Roman
Catholic Church declined invi-
tations to participate. Baptist
ministers John Cera of
Wilmington and Joe Coleman
of Newfane agreed to speak for
their opposing views, as did
Rep. Pat O’Donnell, R-Vemon,

Town Meetings Mixedon Unions

During Town Meetings in
March, many communities
around the state discussed the

issue of same-gender marriage,

and some put the proposal —
and opposing measures — to
non-binding votes. In other
towns‘, the only mention was
on the Doyle Poll, an infonnal
survey distributed statewide by
Senator Doyle, R-Washington
that asked questions on the
topic.

Several OITM readers
offered their observations on
-goings-on at various ‘town
meetings around the state.

Bennington (Mar. 6,
7:30pm, preliminary meeting;
estimated attendance 100)

The issue raised at the end
of the meeting by an opponent
of same-gender marriage, who
read a prepared statement
about a civil union bill’s effect
on children being ‘taught
against traditional marriage.’
She encouraged everyone to
fill out the Doyle survey.

The moderator quickly dis-
missed the meeting after this
statement, curtailing any fur-
ther discussion.

Colchester (Mar. 6)

There was no mention of
gay marriage and no vote on
the issue.

Derby

Rep. Nancy Sheltra sent out
a survey with two questions:
“Do you support same sex
marriages?” and “Do you sup-
port the creation of a domestic
partnership law by he Vermont
Legislature which would allow
same-sex couples the same
basic benefits as married het-
erosexual couples presently
have?”

At the meeting, few indicat-
ed interest in the topic. When
the subject was broached, the
meeting was quickly "ended.
Sheltra was reportedly
incensed by avoidance of the
discussion.

Hinesburg (Mar. 6,

.7:30pm; attendance appeared

above average)

,Rep. Bill Lippert, having
explained Hinesburg-related
legislative business, explained
the work of the House
Judiciary Committee and the
civil union bill. He made a
short statement thanking the
people of Hinesburg for their
continued‘ respect and true
civility despite differences of
opinion on the matter.

The majority of attendees
rose to a standing ovation as
Lippert returned to his seat. A
noticeable minority stayed
seated and did not applaud.
There was no additional dis-
cussion and no votes on the
issue.

Huntington (Brewster
Pierce School, Mar. 7, 9am;
estimated attendance 200)

A same-gender marriage
supporter asked Governor
Dean about the consequences
of legislative inaction this year.
Dean indicated support for the
civil union bill but did not
answer the question asked.

Moderator Britt Cummings,
husband of TIP founder
Michelle Cummings, stepped
out of role to state beliefs that
everyone should oppose same-
gender marriage and that gov-
ernment should determine
community moral standards.

Rep. Karen Steele, who
voted against the civil union
bill in the House Ways and
Means Committee, announced
she wanted constituent feed-

‘back before deciding on her

floor vote. Rep Val Vincent
said. she would vote for the bill
and received applause and
some cheers.

There was no vote on the
issue, and once the governor
and representatives left, no fur-
ther discussion of it.

Leicester (Mar.6)

The meeting ended “delight-
fully early” without mention of
or votes on either domestic
partnership or marriage.

Middlebury (Mar. 6, esti-
mated attendance 200)

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who had to bow out at the last
minute.

Moderator Tom Trenchard,
himself a last minute substi-
tute, set the tone by laying
down some ground rules and
suggesting a circular seating .
arrangement to promote a
sense of inclusion and commu-
nity and encourage audience
participation in the discussion.

That discussion proved spir-
ited and challenging. Many in
attendance were from the con-
gregations of Ceratto and
Coleman. They voiced not only
beliefs that the Bible condemns
homosexuality, but concerns
about health risks such as
HIV/AIDS and sexually trans-

mitted diseases in general.

But Noah Kitty matched
them word for word on inter-
preting scripture, and an epi-
demiologist in the audience
cautioned against the selective
use of statistics, particularly
since the spread of sexually
transmitted diseases today is at
a faster rate among heterosexu-
als. _

Several people spoke elo-
quently of the social value of
loving relationships, regardless
of gender. In general most saw
the pending legislation as a
civil rights issue‘ that has been
confused by the intermixing of
church and state.

As VFMTF representative

Bari Shamas pointed out in her
opening remarks, previous fora
on the issue had been similarly
successful in promoting dia-
logue.

But few have elicited as
much interest. A 1998 forum
sponosored by All Souls
Church attracted only a hand-
ful of participants. Many in
attendance expressed hopes
that, with the issue still at the
forefront of the Vermont leg-
islative agenda, Vermonters
would continue to be respectful
and willing to ‘listen to one
another. V

Island continued from

the Attempt to Legalize the
Sodomitic Abuse of 14 yr. old
boys by 50 yr. old men.” (sic)

Mitzi Johnson, an organic
farmer who resides in South
Hero, was one of the 85 names
listed on Pearl’s flyer. She said
she could only speculate as to
its author’s intentions, but she
experienced no negative reper-
cussions. In fact, she said she
heard from many people that-
support gay and lesbian mar-
riage and were disappointed.
not to be included.

According to Hardy Macia,
Secretary of the Vermont
Libertarian Party, Pearl
resigned from the Libertarian
party largely due to a disagree-
ment with the party’s stand on
gay rights issues.

Pearl is known in the area
for confrontations with local
authorities over his right to
carry firearms and his frequent
and vitriolic letters to the local
papen

‘‘I disagree with Brian’s
actions,” Macia said. “He’s
gone beyond civil society.”

Johnson said she was
stunned by the number of peo-
ple who turned out for the
cadlelight march.

“There were almost as many
people there as had gone to
town meeting earlier in the
week,” she said. She hadn’t
expected a crowd of that size
because several people had
expressed concerns about safe-
ty.

Those fears were unreal-
ized. A peaceful group carrying
a large American flag walked
from the Congregational
Church to the Town Hall,
where Pearl waited. with some
companions. He kept his dis-
tance and didn’t attempt to
interfere with the proceedings
as the group sang “America the
Beautiful” and speakers
addressed the crowd.

Sherry Corbin, a regional"
organizer for the Task Force,

 
  

page one

said the gathering was gratify-
ing to her personally, but noted

that the absence of some key 7,

people was also important. For
example, she said John
LaBarge, the area’s representa-
tive in the General Assembly
did not attend.

LaBarge couldn’t be
reached for comment, but has
made several public statements
in recent weeks in an effort to
contradict Pearl’s attempt to
link their names.

Johnson, who recently
announced plans to run against
LaBarge this fall, said that
although she didn’t agree with
the way her opponent voted on
H.847, the civil union bill, she
doubted that he any real align-
ment with Pearl.

Governor Howard, Dean
sent a letter to be read to the
gathering. In it, he commended
the community’s promotion of
civility and tolerance.

“I applaud every effort to
raise debate and discussion of

  
 

    
 

 
 
 

  

   
    
 

 
 

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the civil rights of gay and les-
bian couples to the highest
ground in Vermont,” wrote
Dean.

He said he understood there
were differences of opinion on
the issue and expressed a hope
that the legislature “finds it in
its heart and conscience to do
the right thing. I cannot and
will not allow messages of
hatred and bigotry to go
unchallenged,” he wrote.

He called Vermont “a small
state with room in its heart to
agree or respectfully disagree,”
and said the state must emerge
from this debate with that qual-
ity intact. _

The message of the demon-
stration was apparently lost on
Pearl. A week later, he pro-
duced and distributed a new
version of his poster. His mes-
sage was the same as the first
time, but the list of names had
changed. V

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