LIVING THROUGH CHANGE
Since we graduated in 1968, women have become much stronger advocates on their own behalf, and much more prominent participants in society – in the workplace, in the civic life and the world generally. LGBTQ individuals have ceased to be invisible, as they largely were in the 1960s, and have gained the legal rights to marry and also to serve in the US armed forces. The concept of gender fluidity has emerged and expanded our understanding of human sexuality. Meanwhile, whether straight or LGBTQ, female or male, in daily life each of us has experienced our sensitivities evolve, and dealt with more complex individual relationships.
But after 50 years, it isn’t over. Old questions remain and new arrive, for all of us.
- We have challenged and changed the cultural truism of centuries that woman’s place is in the home. But our reproductive rights continue to be threatened.
- As gay marriage has become legal nationally, and family roles have changed, the definition of these roles (for both gay and straight parents) is still evolving and is not without controversy. Likewise, LGBTQ folks now serve in the armed forces, but, as pioneers, they are still working to establish their legitimacy.
These developments have served to expand our democracy and our personal freedoms. But what have the struggles and gains cost us? And how far do we still need to go?
This open forum will include short remarks by the facilitators about their personal histories, designed to prompt thought and reactions from forum attendees, who are also invited to describe their personal experiences.
Participant Backgrounds
Nat Butler, MBA, MSW, worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and then in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Medicaid program. He served in the Navy from 1968 to 1972. At Phillips Exeter Academy, he has been active as an alumnus and class president in advocating for LGBTQ individuals. His first boyfriend died of AIDS. Nat was married in Memorial Church in 2009. He and his husband live in Boston.
The Reverend Anne Fowler is an Episcopal priest, semi-retired. For 22 years she served as Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.Throughout her adult life and ministry she has advocated strongly for LGBTQ justice and equality in and beyond the Church, as well as for women’s reproductive health and justice. In Massachusetts, Fowler chaired the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry, a group instrumental in the struggle to achieve Marriage Equality. She’s now on the Board of Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Chris Dahl is a retired college president and professor, whose work with students, colleagues and community members over the past 45 years has provided an intimate view of the changes in personal lives, gender roles and institutional cultures wrought by the women’s movement and the ongoing quest for justice for LGBTQ individuals.
At three campuses, he contributed to the development of women’s studies, navigated the changing meaning of diversity and equity, and advocated for the needs of LGBTQ students. As parent and spouse, Dahl has lived through many of the same changes and now learns from his 30-something son and friends.
Additional Information:
How Same-Sex Couples Divide Chores, and What It Reveals About Modern Parenting
They divide chores much more evenly, until they become parents, new research shows.
Ron Kram on Oprah. Below is an interview which Oprah Winfrey did in 1993 with our (now deceased) classmate Ron Kram and his husband John Long (who is attending the 50th Reunion). The interview was taped just before the birth of Ron and John's first child, their daughter Caroline.There is follow up video showing Ron and John holding the infant. Caroline is now 25 years old.