10 Out in the Mountains |May 2000 VIJIIIES FROM THE MOIlll|TA|ll|S Iiy‘iay suhuster Taking It to the Public Since the Supreme Court announced their decision last December, my lover and I have been to one celebration, one counter-protest, two public tes- timony sessions, one small group meeting with one of our legislators, a‘ vigil, and two public forums relating to their decision. In addition, I’ve lis- tened to another public testi- mony session and one call-in radio show. I expected that_the discus- sion would turn nasty quickly. Each time I went to the state- house I waited for glaring looks, waved Bibles, strict seg- regation based on viewpoint, yelling, and shouting. That never happened. Everyone has been amazingly polite. I began to feel proud about how civil the discourse has been. Yes, I dislike being called a disease-spreading sodomite as much as the next guy, butat least the person say- ing that let me speak my turn, where I would like to think my civilized, secular response exposed his flawed logic. Then I went to the public forum held in St. Albans on Tuesday, April 11. It was held at Bellows Free Academy,’ the local high school. Dan and I attended because we thought that we might be needed as supporters, and besides, it was close to our Senate district. We arrived early and sat in the auditorium next to a friend who had graduated there some 30-odd years ago. He warned us that we would be seeing. some of Franklin County’s finest in action. I expected that pro-civil union folks would be outnumbered, but I was confi- dent that the discussion would stay calm. -»f"*\ would have to take matters into his own hands, even if he got "Wecan easily reduce our detractors to absurdity and show them their hos- tility is groundless. But what does this prove? That their hatred is real. When every slander has been rebutted, every misconception cleared up, every false opinion about us overcome, intol- era nce itself will remain finally irrefutable.” John Boswell, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality It was vicious. The editor of the St. Albans Messenger mod- erated, and I think even he was shocked at the unruliness of the anti—civil union camp. Franklin County Senators George Costes (anti-civil union and co-author of the constitu- tional amendment to undo Baker v. State) and Sara Branon Kittel (then probably pro-civil union, now definitely so) were there. They were joined by Representative John Edwards from Swanton, who is on the House Judiciary Committee and voted pro-civil union, and others including Rep. Bill Lippert and Senator Dick McCormack. Edwards was actually booed by the anti- people. Kittel wasn’t treated much better. The first person to speak set the tone for the evening. He got up and asked if anyone had ever been to San Francisco and seen what goes on there; how appalled he was that two men or women would hold hands or even kiss in public. If that ever happened here, he said he sent to jail for a thousand years. He later threatened some people in the back of the room, saying that he would meet them in the parking lot. A con- cerned witness to this called the Attorney General’s office to alert them to the problem. After being asked several times to be quiet, to not inter- rupt, and to not clap so as to get through as many people as pos- sible, whenever someone spoke anti-civil union there was loud‘ applause and cheer- ing. Whenever someone spoke pro-civil union there was either silence, or they would be inter- rupted, jeered, or booed. When Jo Henry Nunes’ young son . spoke about being the adopted son of a gay dad, someone in the audience hollered “child abuse.” It was that bad. When Jo Henry was called to speak, he gave the audience a lecture on class distinctions that exist in St. Albans to this day, calling the groups “Blockers” and “Snob Hill” and making reference to the churches the respective groups Bill Desautels I Realtor, CRS Serving the real estate needs of our community I o.%;; RB’/VIFX North Professionals Each Office Independently Owned and Operated 553 Roosevelt Highway, Ste 201 Colchester, Vermont 05446 Office: 802-655-3333 X17 Toll Free: 800-639-4520 X17 E-Mail: bi1lyvt@aol.com Condoguy.com went to. That set the anti-group to foaming at the mouth. He was shouted down continually during his two minutes. The most ironic moment of 2 the evening came when a BFA student, originally from the state of Georgia, talked about how it had been very common to hear racist, Nazi, and other defamatory remarks as she was growing up, and how happy she was to be in Vermont where that didn’t happen. That said, she believed in the Bible and that God said whatever and was anti-civil union. Afterwards, we walked with Jo Henry and his son to their car, just in case. So much for politeness. The following day, Wednesday, April 12, there was a public forum held in North Hero, our district, although our senator was not going to be there. We hadn’t planned to attend this one, but thought the setting of a Methodist church might lead to a healing experi- ence. It was. There couldn’t have been a starker contrast with St. Albans. Everyone met down- 5'- -' A Community Owned Natural Foods Market & Deli specializing in Organic Choices.’ BRATTLEBORO FO0D@C0°0P stairs forjuice and cookies and then upstairs in the main hall. The people were mostly pro- civil‘ union, and the event was sponsored by a faith-oriented support group for gay, lesbian, and allied people in the Islands. The moderator was the min- ister of the church. Beth Robinson and John Edwards got up and spoke about the his- tory of the bill, and took ques- tions from the audience. People then shared their opin- ions. The moderator made a big deal of getting people to listen, and to respect each other’s viewpoints, and it worked. After the first person to speak got a round of applause, she said that if peo- ple were going to applaud, then the entire audience would have to applaud every speaker. And, remarkably, they did. The first person to speak was a deacon at a born-again church in Richford. He was earnest, honest, and anti-civil union, but he garnered the respect of everyone there, which was a great start to the ?%,¥$§.§§ :29 Open to MONDAY-SATURDAY 9-9 SUNDAY 9-8 ' 2 MAIN ST ' BRA1TLEB0R0iVERM0N'l' I/It Pub/it Elizabeth C. Campbell, CPA, PC Certified Public Accountants 15 East Washington Street, Rutland 05701 802-773-4030 / liz@rallyCPA.com Tax specialists serving individuals and small businesses I , ‘Not affiliated with Choice Financial Services 802-453-6677 ' fax 802-453-6685 dlescoe@together.net PO Box 42 42 Ttillium Lane Starksboro, VT 05487 Investment Advlsor Representative of, and securities offered through Tower Square Securities, inc.’ Member NASD/SIPC JACQUELINE MARINO, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, REALTOR‘ Each Oitice is independently Owned And Operated (802) 846-5637 BUSINESS (802) 846-5601 FAX (800) 488-5609 X237 TOLL FREE |ackie@iogether.net E-MAIL GLL COLDIII BANKER E3 REALTY MART 120 Kimball Ave., Suite 110 South Burlington. VT 05403