[W]oodstock writer Joseph Olshan picked up the New York Times recently to find a front-page story reporting how Vermonter Christine Hallquist, the nation’s first transgender major-party gubernatorial candidate, grew up bullied by classmates and beaten by nuns.
Some viewed the article as a testament to how far the Green Mountain State — the first in the nation to adopt same-sex civil unions in 2000 and full marriage rights by a legislative vote in 2009 — has advanced in the past half-century.
Olshan thinks otherwise. The gay Vermonter is frustrated many residents don’t see the slights and stares of “covert homophobia” he still feels today.
“My fear is because we live in a liberal state, people figure everybody’s cool,” he says. “That worries me. I have experienced discrimination and it’s heartbreaking if I let myself think about it.”
Olshan has published 11 books, from his first novel “Clara’s Heart,” translated into 16 languages and turned into a feature film starring Whoopi Goldberg, to his latest title “Black Diamond Fall,” praised by Entertainment Weekly as “a new sort of page-turning thriller that’s spiked with real, personal stories.”
Olshan has based his 304-page Polis hardcover on two true-life, decade-old events — the disappearance of a Middlebury College student and vandalism of the late poet Robert Frost’s nearby home — as well as observations gleaned from living in the Upper Valley.
“Sam feels quite rattled as he drives south on Interstate 89 to Concord,” the author writes in his novel. “It occurs to him there probably are very few places in the U.S. where an incident involving a possibly murdered gay student could have happened without rousing some acid reflux of bigotry and suspicion. Still, to be vilified like this in his own town, in a state he grew up in. …”
Now publicizing his book on a national tour, Olshan has sparked attention at readings as far west as California.
“I discovered fairly early on that my novels earn a greater emotional depth and authenticity if I stick close to people and events in my own life,” he recently told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Writing has a large, mysterious aspect to it. The late Grace Paley, one of my mentors, once told me that every time she sat down to write a new book she had to learn how to write all over again.”
But Olshan says many Vermonters don’t fully grasp the truth of his story.
“You would think prejudice would not happen here,” he says, “but even in the most liberal state in the country, people still face this.”
Sarah Ward understands. The Williston writer and social worker recalls when her teenage daughter announced she was a lesbian, “she experienced what she called ‘icing’ — she would walk into the school cafeteria and everyone would circle up around a table so she could not sit down.”
Vermont’s progressive image as the home of Bernie Sanders and Ben & Jerry’s can mask the challenges minorities continue to face. Just this month, the Human Rights Campaign released a Municipal Equality Index report that found, based on LGBTQ acknowledgment in local laws and policy, the average score for the state’s population hubs is 56 out of 100 — just below the national average of 58.
“Here I am in Chittenden County, yet my daughter is experiencing outward and hidden aggression,” Ward says. “She struggled a lot with depression and feeling isolated, but those experiences were not something she thought she could talk to us about.”
In response, Ward has written her own novel, “Aesop Lake,” which tells the story of a Vermont student who witnesses a hate crime against two gay classmates and must decide the best course of action.
“The memory of the ambulance passing us causes my stomach to lurch,” the lead character says in the 200-page Green Writers Press paperback. “Oh god, what if they were seriously injured? My feet are weights as I move into the bathroom and turn the shower knob. Could I have stopped it? Why didn’t I call the police?”
Kirkus Reviews has called Ward’s book “a mindful dissection of how allied strength can combat hate.” But its author, like Olshan, has found many have yet to embrace its subject matter.
“We would be crazy to think everyone here is completely comfortable and open-minded,” she says. “This could be rural America anywhere.”
Olshan reports mixed results in his attempts to drum up state press coverage for his title and its theme, with some media outlets telling him they’re too busy covering the upcoming midterm election. But the author believes with a transgender candidate and the MeToo movement making headlines, the issue of homophobia is timely — so much so, he invited Ward to join him at a recent book reading.
“We’re combining our forces,” Olshan told an audience at Manchester’s Northshire Bookstore. “We really would like to have a discussion on this.”
The two authors hope Vermonters find their titles enlightening.
“I’ve had friends say this book is something the straight community really needs to read,” Ward says. “It’s really encouraging kids to talk about allyship and what that means. It’s not just saying ‘I’m an ally,” it’s stepping in when something’s not OK.”
They also want readers to see their novels as simply entertaining.
“I’m not expecting to change the world, but to help people broaden their perspective,” Olshan says. “I think the state still has room for evolution. It’s our job to shed some light.”