free speech

Uncivil Liberties

A Vermont gay activist blog fights dirty

Before the Vermont Legislature passed the civil-unions law in the spring of 2000, hundreds of Vermonters testified at the Statehouse for and against the bill. It was a display of democracy at its finest. The debate outside the chamber, however, often turned nasty.

Much of that ugliness came from conservative activists, who accused gay Vermonters of advocating a wide variety of evils.