{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/h707w68s18/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Emily Sherwood, July 23, 2024"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/255/original/Aviary_TRL_Header.png?1704389184","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eA self-described Military Brat, Emily was born in 1958 in Albuquerque and followed her father’s marine employment in Washington, D.C., Greenville, SC, and Oceanside, CA.  The family ultimately settled in Schenectady, New York, where her father was employed at the General Electric Plant. Her father’s Marine Corps service and Emily's Episcopalian upbringing inculcated her and her older sisters with a strong sense of social responsibility and civic virtue.  Emily’s political baptism came at age ten during the Vietnam War when her older sister took her to an anti-war demonstration.   Her sexual awakening came after having a crush on a female math teacher and hearing Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman.”   She would attend the women’s college Mount Holyoke College, where she met her first lesbian friend during Christian Fellowship.  She joined the lesbian alliance and became part of “Women’s Music,\" which drew musicians from civil rights and feminist movements.  After college, she and her future wife Ruth would move to Somerville, Jamaica Plains, Newton Highlands, and Marblehead before going to Lynn in 1999.  They were delighted to discover five gay couples on their block, part of a larger burgeoning community.  Emily dedicated her career to working for social change, from her early days as a community organizer to many years working on health and mental health policy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Emily’s most recent role was deputy commissioner for child, youth and family services for the Department of Mental Health. Previous positions include the director of the Office of Behavioral Health at MassHealth and director of the Children’s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI), where she led the implementation of a statewide system of home-based mental health services for children, youth, and families.\u003c/p\u003e"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eA self-described Military Brat, Emily was born in 1958 in Albuquerque and followed her father\u0026rsquo;s marine employment in Washington, D.C., Greenville, SC, and Oceanside, CA. \u0026nbsp;The family ultimately settled in Schenectady, New York, where her father was employed at the General Electric Plant. Her father\u0026rsquo;s Marine Corps service and Emily's Episcopalian upbringing inculcated her and her older sisters with a strong sense of social responsibility and civic virtue. \u0026nbsp;Emily\u0026rsquo;s political baptism came at age ten during the Vietnam War when her older sister took her to an anti-war demonstration. \u0026nbsp; Her sexual awakening came after having a crush on a female math teacher and hearing Helen Reddy\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;I am Woman.\u0026rdquo; \u0026nbsp; She would attend the women\u0026rsquo;s college Mount Holyoke College, where she met her first lesbian friend during Christian Fellowship. \u0026nbsp;She joined the lesbian alliance and became part of \u0026ldquo;Women\u0026rsquo;s Music,\" which drew musicians from civil rights and feminist movements. \u0026nbsp;After college, she and her future wife Ruth would move to Somerville, Jamaica Plains, Newton Highlands, and Marblehead before going to Lynn in 1999. \u0026nbsp;They were delighted to discover five gay couples on their block, part of a larger burgeoning community. \u0026nbsp;Emily dedicated her career to working for social change, from her early days as a community organizer to many years working on health and mental health policy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Emily\u0026rsquo;s most recent role was deputy commissioner for child, youth and family services for the Department of Mental Health. Previous positions include the director of the Office of Behavioral Health at MassHealth and director of the Children\u0026rsquo;s Behavioral Health Initiative (CBHI), where she led the implementation of a statewide system of home-based mental health services for children, youth, and families.\u003c/p\u003e"]},"provider":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Through A Rainbow Lens"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Through A Rainbow Lens"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/255/original/Aviary_TRL_Header.png?1704389184","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/247/299/small/open-uri20240801-480-plb82s_1722522892.jpg?1722508496","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - open-uri20240801-480-plb82s.mp4"]},"duration":4319.967,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/247/299/small/open-uri20240801-480-plb82s_1722522892.jpg?1722508496","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-unitedlynnpride.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/247/299/original/open-uri20240801-480-plb82s.mp4?1722508474","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":4319.967,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Emily Sherwood transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nToday's date is July 23, 2024. My name is Andrew Darien. I'm a professor of history at Salem State University, and I'm conducting this interview as part of the Mass Humanities funded-project, \"Through a Rainbow Lens: A Reflection on Lynn's LGBTQ+ History.\" I'm honored to be joined today by Emily Sherwood, who is a public healthcare and human services professional, and has been a member of the Lynn community for three decades. Very grateful that you're joining us for today, and I'd just like to start by confirming that I've got your permission to record our conversation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2.0,41.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYes, you do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=41.0,44.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nThanks, Emily. I know that you were raised primarily in Schenectady, New York, which is not quite a suburb of New York City and not quite upstate. Can you just tell us a little bit about what the city is like, or at least what it was like when you were growing up there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=44.0,63.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYep. I'll say I moved there...when did I move there? So my dad was in the Marine Corps, so I was actually born in Albuquerque and lived in Camp Pendleton and then outside Washington, D.C., but from the third grade on lived in Schenectady, except then a two-year thing during high school down to Greenville, South Carolina, so a bunch of places. But Schenectady, it's a lot like Lynn because the big employer is the General Electric [G.E.]Company, which was started in Schenectady. It was a big, big manufacturing plant. And then my dad, after he got out of the Marine Corps, went to work at GE, and actually my maternal grandfather, after he got out of the Navy, worked on the sort of 'Atoms for Peace' program, because it was also a research lab in Schenectady. But there's also Union College, so it's a small city about the same size as Lynn, population around 70,000, 80,000, with this sort of manufacturing base, and then it's also got a higher education, so it was great. I mean, one of the things I loved was I could ride my bike all over town as a kid, and then one thing that was fun is there's a, you know.......—it's actually, it's near Albany, New York, so it really is upstate, and it's really old. It goes back to the Dutch in the 1600s. There was a big war, during the French and Indian War, there was the Schenectady Massacre, which is crazy. You learn about it in the third grade, yikes! But it's got a part of the town that's kind of like Beacon Hill, or, you know, it's an eighteenth century sort of pattern, it's called the Stockade, and that's where my grandparents lived. And so even before we lived there, we would always come there for the summer, and I had cousins from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and from Oklahoma, and everybody would join and come stay at my grandparents' house in the Stockade, which was really fun, so a lot of good memories.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=63.0,193.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nDo you consider yourself a military brat?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=193.0,196.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=196.0,198.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd do you have any sense of how that shaped your identity, both in terms of the little bit of moving around that you did, as well as the sort of template that your father created for your family?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=198.0,213.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nWell, you know, what's interesting is I've reflected on it more later in life, and one time there was a....at my church. at St. Stephen's in Lynn, we had a young assistant who was from North Carolina, a guy from North Carolina, and he stopped me one day and he goes, \"Was your dad in the military?\" I'm like, \"Yeah, what do you, what do you? How did you figure that out?\" And he said, \"Your spirit of public service,\" Which I was very flattered, and then it got me really thinking about it, that even though I didn't go into the military....I mean, one: both my mother's family and my dad, my dad's parents were in California, so I didn't know them as well, but there was like deep engagement with what's going on in the world, and a sense of responsibility for doing something to make it better, and so I've come to really understand how much of that came from.....it's something people who don't know the military don't understand, they think of the war fighting part of it, they don't know the \"it's not about capitalism in the military, it's not about making money, it's about service, and it's about trying to do the best for the country,\" —which is not well understood or believed by a lot of people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=213.0,298.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nYou mentioned your church in Lynn, St. Stephen's. Was your family very religious growing up?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=298.0,307.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYeah, we grew up, I grew up in the Episcopal Church. There's an old church in Schenectady called St. George's, so yeah, that was always a big part of life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=307.0,318.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd, other than that call to service, do you feel like your family imprinted you with certain values, whether religious or otherwise?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=318.0,331.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nAbsolutely, yeah. And for good and ill, right? So the good part is, I think I really, really got from church, and from my mother especially, every human is worthy, has value, and is worthy of respect. On the other hand, they were very proud WASPS [White Anglo Saxon Protestants], and sort of thought, you know, English-descended people were the best, so that was the sort of the shadow side of that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=331.0,372.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nIs that something that you bought into at a younger age? And did remember having an epiphany?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=372.0,381.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nNo, you know, what's weird, and I've thought about this a lot, I didn't —and I don't know why. It's not like I have any particular virtue. And I think part of it was both my parents, so both my grand, both grandfathers: my father's father was an army doctor, so my dad grew up on army bases. My mother's father was a naval officer, and she grew up going to different Navy places. And it was, they were growing up in the 30s, and the military was very small. It was a very insular world. They were officers, I think all the officers were white, so it was a very, very homogeneous, insular world. So, from the beginning, I was going to public schools, and I was with all kinds of people, and that's the best I can think of it: is that I had all kinds of friends, and so that sort of narrative about what I was getting at home, just didn't really compute.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=381.0,449.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nHow do you think your parents would have described you as a child?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=449.0,458.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nWell, this is what my mother always said. So I'm the youngest of three, and my mom had a miscarriage before me. So my sisters are six and eight years older than me. But than me. But anyway, what my mother would say was, I was always perfectly nice, and I just did what I damn well pleased. And I will tell you, there's a through line of being the youngest. I hated going to bed, because everybody else was still up. And so what I would do is engage, this is what my mother would say, I'd engage her in some fascinating conversation, and she'd realize half an hour later, it was past my bedtime. And that skill is my superpower in government, of engaging people and being able to, like the to, like the thing I could really do in the legislature was, when you're doing the budget, when you're debating the budget, it's usually an all-night affair in the House of Representatives, the Massachusetts the Massachusetts House. And so there's a moment, like I worked for the chairman of the Human Services Committee. There's There's a moment where he has the ear of the chairman of Ways and Means, who's the decider, for maybe for maybe a minute. And I would be with him and be pitching our priorities in an extremely condensed and pithy and engaging way. And so I think I developed those skills young.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=458.0,557.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd did those legislators reward you by allowing you to stay up late? Yeah. up Yeah. Oh, yeah. And what was your relationship like with your older sisters?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=557.0,577.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nThey were quite a bit older. So it was, you know, particularly, I mean, so as kids, like I was the pesky young one who was who was always trying to hang out with the middle sister, Teddy. And, you know, my mother would have to like, no, she's here with her friends. But, you know, I've been very close to my sisters growing up. My middle sister died when she was 40 of ovarian cancer. And that was her. ovarian And that was her. That was awful. Just awful. And we miss her to this day. So but my oldest sister and I are like super grateful to have each other. And at this each other. And at this point, both, you know, our parents have passed, have died. And so we are very grateful to have each other. So other. So I'm going to do a little quick math.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=577.0,632.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nIf math. If your sisters are six and eight years older than you, I'm thinking they are probably much more much more so children of the 60s than you are. Of are. Of course, you came in the 60s, but they were truly of that generation. Absolutely. Absolutely. Do you recall what place, if any, they had in the movement of the 60s and what influence that what influence that might have had","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=632.0,664.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo the first political rally I ever went to was with my, it was probably both sisters, but definitely both sisters, but definitely my oldest sister because she was driving. And And it was Eugene McCarthy. So the big anti-war candidate. And And we went to a political rally in Albany, New York. And Susie, my oldest sister, was in, she was at George Washington University in Washington. And she was a marshal in one of the big anti-war demonstrations. So that was all. And what was interesting was my dad. So my dad got out of the Marine Corps in 67. He was always opposed to the war in Vietnam. And so we had lots of interesting conversations about that at home. So.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=664.0,717.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nHow did he feel about the protesters?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=717.0,721.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYou know, I don't remember. I think, you know, I was pretty little. So I think he thought it was okay. I'm sure he would have, because he thought the war was a terrible mistake. And And that really came from, he saw very, very heavy combat in Korea. And he just thought, you know, we had no place being there. And we were at a disadvantage with a country that was trying to get all of its foreigners out. You know, and that you don't know, you're not, you know, you don't know the people. And you're not, you haven't developed trust with the people. So he thought it was a really stupid idea. But given that the kind of Marine he was, I'm sure he didn't love, like, the lifestyle of the protesters at that time. But I don't remember him kind of railing against it or anything.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=721.0,776.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo is it correct that you are roughly about 10 years old when you're going to this first political rally? And And then I'm guessing you were, well, you must have been about 11 during the Stonewall riots. I imagine that was probably not something on your radar at that age that you only learned about subsequently.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=776.0,802.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYeah. No. And it's like, I feel like I'm still learning new things about it. Right. Because there's more scholarship about it now and more oral histories. And yeah, I do remember, I think probably as a result of that, I remember, like, it was either Newsweek or Time had an article about, probably about Stonewall, but it was about sort of the, you know, gay liberation movement. And I think I remember asking my mother what a lesbian was. And, you know, and remember, like, there being a little tension, you know, like a little awkwardness. But she gave a very, you know, like she didn't say, oh, a woman who loves another woman. But I think it was like, two women are in a relationship. I I mean, it was something that was accurate and not horribly pejorative, but I sensed the discomfort.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=802.0,863.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd probably hard to know, but do you know to what degree that discomfort was with the topic in general or more specifically because she was talking to you about it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=863.0,879.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nDon't know. Don't know.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=879.0,883.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo what were you like in high school?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=883.0,886.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nAll right. So you think of all the cliques in high school. So school. So I was before we moved to South Carolina, I was just basically like part of the good kids who, you know, studied hard and did all that kind of stuff. Pretty, you know, it's funny. I it's funny. I think I think either I was clueless or school's just so different than like, I don't remember. Like, I didn't I wasn't bullied, but I wasn't part of like the popular kids. But I don't remember wanting to be part of the popular kids. And like, I don't know, eighth and ninth, seventh and eighth grade were great for me because it was like it was so much more interesting. What we were learning in school was so much more interesting than elementary school. And school. And I had a great group of like mostly girlfriends, but a nice friendship group. And then in the middle of that for ninth and 10th grade, we went to Greenville, South Carolina. And And that was a huge culture shock that I'm super grateful for it because it was like being in the South. I didn't use this word then, but it was like I I felt it. I realized the incredible I would use the word political and cultural hegemony of the Northeast, like the dominance, the cultural and political dominance of the Northeast that I would have never had any perspective on. And what it felt like to be in a culture that and this is the white part of the culture that has known defeat and they are still pissed about it. And so it was really, really interesting when I came back. I mean, and this is sort of starting to get into the the gay stuff. Like so my best, best friend, Carla. So when I came back, she had a serious boyfriend. A lot of the girls I'd been friends with before I went to South Carolina now had boyfriends. So that whole social scene had changed. And so then and this was amazing. My English teacher, they was also the theater director and they were doing a play and their lead, their lead. Oh, my God, had gotten sick or somehow had to pull out. And he it was called it was the the Haunting of Hill House. And they asked me to come in. I was terrible, but to come in. I was terrible, but I did it. But I got connected up with all the theater kids. And nobody, you know, it's a different era than nobody was out at that point. I I think one person was out to one of the directors who was also gay, but people weren't publicly out. A out. A whole bunch of us turned out to be gay. But be gay. But so there was something it was a fantastic group of people. And so group of people. And so that's who I hung out with the last two years of high school. Do high school. Do you remember your first crush? Um. I what I remember was when I was in South Carolina. I remember kind of having a crush on my female math teacher, and that was my first inkling of like. And also, do you remember if you remember Helen Reddy, the singer from Australia, and she had this song, I am woman. It was this really amazing song. And song. And I remember being home after school one day and watching that and sort of like something stirred in me, you know. So those were my first inklings. And And do you remember how you process that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=886.0,1122.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWhere you did it? Scared me to death. Scared","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1122.0,1127.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nAnd I remember at one point, like being, I mean, just anxiety, anxiety, being waking my mother up in the middle of the night and saying, I couldn't say what it was. But I just said vague things like, I think I'm different. And And I'm something. And so, and this was like very culturally true in my family. Like, the good part was she said, like the next day or something, she goes, you know, if you ever want to talk to somebody, meaning like a therapist, you know, that would be okay. Well, that was a terrifying thought. I mean, that's not something I knew anything about. Or Or people, I didn't have any friends who'd ever been to a therapist. I mean, a therapist. I mean, it was, that was a long time ago. It was ago. It was in the 70s. So, that didn't really help. And it's like she didn't really, she didn't ask me. Like, I think a lot of parents now, it's just a different era, right? Would have been like, well, what are you worried about? What's going on? And so, she didn't really ask any questions. And I think after that, I just completely repressed it. 100% repressed it. And what was interesting, I was looking, not long ago, I was looking at some journals from college. I went to Mount Holyoke College in Western Mass, women's college. And there's a thing when you're a first-year student, you have a, there's a junior you're paired with to sort of like help you get oriented and stuff. And and stuff. And I remember we went up to the, it's called the College Inn for a beer, and we're walking down, and I see these two women holding hands. And I go home, and I write about it in my journal. But from an external perspective, like, well, that's kind of weird. Like, I had literally completely repressed everything until I was in Christian fellowship in college. And so, my sophomore year, a really good friend of mine, who was the co-chair of the Christian fellowship, she came out as a lesbian. And it was a big deal. She had to resign. She had to leave Christian fellowship. And so, she was the first lesbian that I knew I knew. And I started hanging out with her. And it was like, but it was a, it's a, it was a gradual process of like, well, I like hanging out with these people. What's it have to do with me? And to do with me? And it took me about a year to sort of figure stuff out.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1127.0,1277.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo, in high school or any other time, did you date boys? Yeah, Yeah, yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1277.0,1284.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nI I had, there were a couple people I","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1284.0,1289.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd how did that feel?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1289.0,1296.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nHard to explain. It was okay.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1296.0,1311.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nDid you, maybe in retrospect, do you think that the woman who came out and was kicked out of Christian fellowship gave you a certain permission or fortitude to explore that side of yourself? Because of yourself? Because I already, like, I really cared about her.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1311.0,1334.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nI knew her. about I knew her. I was friends with her. I admired her. Huge. You know, and she, I remember first, like, right after it happened, getting together. And, you know, it was the kind of thing where I could just ask her questions and start learning. And she was great.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1334.0,1354.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWas she the first person you came out to?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1354.0,1357.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nWell, I wasn't even, I didn't consider myself a lesbian then. So it was, I mean, I, but I soon became, like, I started socializing with them. And actually, that's when I went to my first gay bar in Northampton, Massachusetts, the Gala, which isn't there anymore. And it was like, I liked dancing with these women. Oh, this is interesting. And And was that one of several lesbian bars in Northampton, or was it the only one?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1357.0,1394.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nI think, yeah, there was, I'm trying to think, at that in Northampton, or was it the only one? I think, yeah, there was, I'm trying to think, at that time, I think it was just the Gala, and then there was a bar in Springfield.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1394.0,1402.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo just down the highway in Springfield. So just down the highway in Springfield. And then later, there was another one in Hadley. I think it was after the Gala closed, probably. There was one in Hadley between Northampton and Amherst.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1402.0,1420.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo what was it like to go to a women's college during what was really the height of the long fight for the passage and ultimate failure of the Equal Rights Amendment?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1420.0,1434.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nOh, interesting. Well, we were there at an interesting time. So I graduated in 1980, so my first year was 76. And it was like, you know, the college was founded as a, it was actually, it was a, they called it a seminary. So it was training young women to be missionaries originally. And then it became, you know, a totally secular place. But, like, there were some really amazing women who were part of it, who were original presidents of the college. And then in the, probably starting in, I don't know, maybe the 30s, they had a whole succession of men, white men presidents. And so we were there, we were kind of a transitional class, because the first two years was the last white guy who's, I can see his face, but I'm forgetting his name. Perfectly nice person. But it was, it had a sort of a little bit of a conservative, I think it felt a little, like there was a patronizing aspect of that leadership. And then while we were there, there was the first modern woman president of Mount Holyoke, Elizabeth Cannon, who was dynamic and amazing. So we were part of a shift. I mean, for more like a, basically like mostly white students, mostly about elite education. Although the school from the beginning in its DNA has been about service. And it was interesting, I got into Smith and Mount Holyoke and was trying to decide between the two. And my mother, and so this is where, like, my parents' values came in again. My mother said, well, I'll just tell you, I've known a bunch of Smith grads and a bunch of Mount Holyoke grads, and I like the Mount Holyoke grads better. And partly it's like, it was, it's always in the past, it had drawn from a more middle-class small town, like the daughters of doctors and lawyers in small towns, whereas Smith was more literary, more New York. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so that was, that was interesting. That's another way they sort of shaped me. And I was, I was glad that it was the right choice for me. But so it was a definitely a transitional time. I will say what was wonderful for me from the start, like my, I mentioned my best friend Carla in seventh and eighth grade. So she was Italian American. And her mother said to me once, you're too serious. You're never going to get a boyfriend. And, and what was wonderful for me was being at Mount Holyoke was just being surrounded by smart women. And it was not weird to talk about interesting things about the world, you know, so it was like the best part was, you know, we were in mixed classes in our dorms. And, you know, staying up late talking about politics and everything going on in the world. And, you know, that was just, I was no longer an outlier.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1434.0,1628.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWere there any particular political causes that you were involved with?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1628.0,1635.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nDefinitely divestiture of the, trying to get the endowment, the school's endowment to divest of anything, anybody doing business in South Africa. That was a big international effort at that point. I was part of the, after I came out, I was part of the, there was a women's center. There was a lesbian alliance. Everybody was like, it was sort of funny because everybody thought the women's center was all lesbians and they were mostly right. So it was sort of funny. There were two groups, but one of the things we did was two things. One, things. One, we produced a big cultural event every spring, including a concert. And it, there was this whole thing that was very big then that people don't even know. Some people, a lot of, most people don't even know about it. It it. It was called women's music. And it was, it's kind of like it's coming after Stonewall and it's, it's, it's lesbian feminists who are producing, you know, who are performers. So there are people like Meg Christian, Holly Near, Margie Adam, a bunch of other people. There other people. There was this amazing, amazing group of, from, from DC called Sweet Honey and the Rock. And then it was, it's acapella, five black women, acapella music founded by Bernice Johnson Regan, who just died last week. She was 81. And she was a co-founder of the Freedom Singers and the Civil Rights Movement that really like drew on the tradition of spirituals and gospel to become, to make it movement music. And she was the person, she was a great teacher in concerts. We produced her every year. So I met my partner in college. I started helping her produce concerts. We started a production company after college, which we did for three years in Northampton. And And we would produce anywhere from, I don't know, six to 10 concerts in a year. So we did Sweet Honey every year. Bernice, I mean, that was my initial education about race and racism. And one thing I'll always remember her saying was she would, you know, she went to jail a lot and they sang a lot. And she said, I don't know if a non-singing people can be free. I was like, yeah, really, really amazing. So, yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1635.0,1791.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo I guess at some point you did, as you said, come out in college. Tell me about the evolution of that decision and how it went.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1791.0,1803.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo I fell in love. And so, and what was weird was it. So Grace was the woman who was in the Christian Fellowship. And she was involved with this woman, Mary. Then they broke up. And then Mary and I got involved. Grace had graduated. Much less awkward. Moved to California. And so that was the fall of my junior year. And so then, but I didn't come out to my parents until after college, a couple of years after college.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1803.0,1847.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nHow did that go?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1847.0,1851.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo I wrote them a letter. And then I drove home to meet, you know, I sent them a letter and then we arranged I'd come home to visit. And my father couldn't talk to me about it. But it wasn't like, I wasn't surprised by that. Like he was not that good at talking about things. And so I remember my mother and I sat, it was a beautiful summer day. We sat in the backyard. And, well, what she said was, you know, it's like what so many parents said then and some now. Like, oh, I'm just so worried how hard things are going to be for you. And one thing that she died in 2019. She was almost 94. And I've been with my partner 40 years. Her name is Ruth, and my wife. And my mother and my favorite aunt would always say, like, ours was the happiest relationship they knew. And so my mother, like many times in the last, you know, 10 years of her life, she would laugh. And she'd say, I was so worried about what would happen for you. And it's so funny that I was so worried. And, you know, you've got this great life. So that was great. I think it was, I think for parents and parents at that time, you know, it was all about, like, what they do wrong. And, you know, it was clearly, like, not like just, oh, this is a great choice. Great, honey, you figured it out. It was, like, this is not ideal. There's some sense of pathology in it. And what did we do? And so I think it took my mom some, I think it takes different people different amounts of time. But it took, I don't know if it took maybe 10 years to get really comfortable. And part of it, she had a wonderful, wonderful friend who was the administrator for the county health department who recruited her after she retired to serve on the county AIDS commission. And she got to know, we'd always had, there were, so the Episcopal church has had lots, it was a Catholic church. This has lots of gay priests. In our church, we had lots of gay priests who were very closeted, and then some who weren't so much. And then, so we always knew gay men. They were in our social circle, my family's social circle. And then when my mom was on the AIDS commission, she really, really, really got to know some gay men. And I think that helped her a lot. I think it's that whole thing of, like, making it real.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1851.0,2030.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWhen did the AIDS crisis first come onto your radar?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2030.0,2035.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nI think, you know, kind of like with, I remember reading it and reading about it in the newspaper, right? You know, like the gay cancer and, you know, all that. I was not, I think because it was really hitting in college. Like, that was not something I was super active in. And part of it was like, so I was like this radical sort of, I wasn't exactly a separatist, but I was very focused on the women's community. And I think like in places like the cities, like D.C., New York, lots of places. I mean, lesbians really, really stepped up and did a ton of, you know, helping to organize care for gay men and also doing political advocacy. And that was just not something I was very plugged into.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2035.0,2087.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo you graduate from college in 1980, which is sort of a turning point in which the country is pivoting in a more conservative direction. Did you have a palpable sense of that change at the time?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2087.0,2107.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nAbsolutely. So my sophomore, after the summer of my sophomore year, I had an internship in Washington, D.C. And at the school, you know, through a program at Mount Holyoke. And I was working for an organization called Thread for the World, which still exists. And it's actually, it was, it's a Christian organization that, it's very cool. There are people who figured out, like there are all these churches who, you know, collect money or collect food for food pantries. But they weren't paying attention to public policy around food. And so, you know, you do a little bit of advocacy and you can leverage an enormous resource, whether internationally or domestically. So this organization did food policy. So I had been there, actually got to go on some lobbying visits. We went to some congressional offices, you know, blah, blah, blah. So I had kind of gotten a sense of who was in Congress at that point. And I will never, I can remember to this moment, sit the night of the Reagan election and hearing all the congressional races and all these people who were our allies were, you know, lost their, lost the election. And so there was a sense of a huge sea change. And I think it would have been, I think it probably for people who weren't so plugged in, it was like had a general feeling and generally felt bad. But like for me, it was like, oh, my God, you know, I knew this person was a really important liberal leader. So was this person. So was this person. So was this person. And they were gone.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2107.0,2210.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nA real purging and turnover. What was your first job out of college?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2210.0,2222.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nRuth is laughing in the background. I had a restaurant job. And so part of it, like in that era, you know, so I was like this big radical. And so like the meaningful work I was doing was our production company. And And it was called Variations on a Theme. And but that did not pay enough. I mean, Ruth, there was a year or two Ruth lived on what we made. But what we made. But she was one year she was able to live on five thousand dollars. Very different era. And so I got a job waiting on table. And so I had a bunch of different little odd jobs. And then I worked I worked at UMass on a lighting crew. I worked at a drugstore. And then I got a job. It's really funny because I'm teaching at Smith now. I now. I worked in the library at Nielsen Library at Smith College. And I did. We did all that for three years. And then we're kind of burnt out. It was it was a very intense time. And like so here we were. We're in this women's community. We're producing women's music. We would get picketed because not all the halls were architecturally accessible to people in wheelchairs. And there weren't the laws on the books now that required that. We didn't we didn't run the halls. You know, we could rent what we could rent. So there was a lot of infighting. And it just was like we got really burned out. So so then I Ruth moved to Boston. She She got a job at the American Repertory Theater in the box office. And so I came to town. It's like, what did I know how to do? What you could package what I knew how to do is special events fundraising. And so I got a job at Greenpeace New England running a small fundraising phone bank. And And they did fundraising whale watches. Right. Right. So and then the cool thing that happened was I was there really liked what the organization was doing. But it was like all these young guys on the staff were really big into direct action, you know. And so, like, I went on a direct action in Baltimore. And, you know, so that was all very dramatic. But they weren't good at connecting that to policy change. Like that was the sort of boring work. And there was a guy on our local board who worked in the legislature who I adored. He was super smart and really strategic. And so I just asked to have lunch with him. He was about to leave his job. The senator he was working for was not running for reelection. And they needed someone for a year to sort of be a stopgap after Rick left. And the senator was Senator Jack Backman, one of the best senators ever. So hand of fate, whatever. I go to work for this. I mean, he was renowned. Like his staff, he had congressional quality staff, which was not the norm. And so I got this year of just unbelievable mentoring and learning. And then there's, I won't bore you with the details, but he ends up retiring. I I end up going to work for the house chair of the committee as the research director a year later. And I worked there for seven years. So that was like I never, ever anticipated that. I loved what we were doing. I had incredible colleagues. You know, I got to work with people outside the legislature. Like Like when you get anything done in the legislature, it's like this huge team coordinated sport. Because you've got people, you know, advocating on the outside, raising money for candidates, getting letter writing campaigns going, whatever. You've got, there were these sort of, they called them poor people lobbyists. They were lobbyists, but they didn't work for like the insurance companies. They worked for, you know, poor people in different advocacy groups. I, as a staff person, there's this whole way that power is reified in the building, where there are places that only elected officials can walk. And for me, like they can walk down the main aisle of the chamber. For me as a staff person, I have to get permission from the court officer to walk down the side, and then they will signal to my employer to come talk to me on the side. But I can go in and out of the chamber, and the lobbyists can't. So you ended up, it was this really fun thing of like, you know, there'd be basically something, a real-time negotiation would be going on. And well, would this be okay if we did this? And I could go, you know, we didn't all have cell phones, right? So I'd go physically outside, talk to the advocates outside. Well, we think we can get this, blah, blah, what do you think, blah, blah, blah. And then I'd go back inside and do that. So it was really fun.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2222.0,2532.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd where in the Boston area were you living?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2532.0,2538.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo when I first got here, I lived in, right, by Davis Square. So Square. So the classic places, Davis Square, Somerville, then Teal Square, Somerville. Then we lived in Jamaica Plain. Then we were making a teeny bit more money, and there was some street violence in Jamaica Plain where we were, and we moved to, we rented in Newton Highlands. And then it was like a total fluke. There was a summer, anyway, somebody Ruth worked with had had an incredible rental in Marblehead, Massachusetts. And heat included, it was something like $700 a month. I mean, it was insane, tiny apartment, but with a water view. And so that's when we got up to the North Shore and never looked back.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2538.0,2589.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd that's when Lynn first came on your radar?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2589.0,2593.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nWell, yeah, we lived in Marblehead for, I don't know, maybe four years. And we really were thinking we should, you know, we were in our 40s by then. So it was like, we really should try and buy something. Could not touch anything in Marblehead. And started looking more broadly. And we ended up in a place like four houses up from the ocean, off Lynn Shore Drive. And, you know, we didn't have kids. That's the worry is like, I mean, I think there's kids that get a good education in Lynn, but it wasn't the reputation. So the real estate was cheaper.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2593.0,2634.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd I know we spoke earlier, a couple weeks ago. You were not, at that point in your life, an avid bar goer, but you did briefly go to France?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2634.0,2648.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nWell, yeah, I think we knew it was famous, famous. Like they always had, one of the things in the gay pride marches, it's like the bars always had big floats, you know. So there was always a great contingent from Lynn. And so we had to at least go in and, you know, check it out. So we did do that. know, check it out. So we did do that. But yeah, it was like sort of not my bar going days.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2648.0,2671.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd did you choose Lynn because you were aware of its gay community or did it just fit other needs?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2671.0,2677.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYeah, it fit other needs, but I will say,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2677.0,2684.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nGod, what's the, I'm trying to think what the words are.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2684.0,2689.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nLynn is a really interesting place. And there was some degree to which we were aware of that. You know, that it's kind of like, you know, like Marblehead's a very pretentious place in a way, or some people are there. And there's a way that Lynn, like I've really, as I got to know people here, I've talked to a lot of people in my church who grew up in Lynn, and it was a proud, proud working class city. Like they were not aspiring to be Marblehead or Weston or Newton, or, you know, or Newton, or, you know, something like that. And so there was something very down to earth and human about it that I think we had a little bit of a sense of.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2689.0,2743.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nAnd do you think it's correct to say when you move there or subsequently, that that there was such an entity that one could call a gay community?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2743.0,2755.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nWell, so on our street, there was, I was, I think when we moved in on our street, it it was a one block long street. So there's street. So there's like 10 houses on the street, including ours, five of them were gay couples. So that was our introduction to the gay community in Lynn. And did you know that before you moved there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2755.0,2774.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nNope. there? Nope. That must have been a pleasant","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2774.0,2781.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nAnd, you know, it was that classic thing of, like the house we lived in had been, like like people would talk about as like the haunted house on the street. An elderly woman house on the street. An elderly woman had lived there. It had fallen to rack and ruin. And and ruin. And there was a gay couple who bought it before us who'd lived there probably at least 10 years, 10 or 15 years, and had done a ton of work themselves. A lot of it were bad that we had to redo, but nevermind. But But they, at least the part we did not have to do was strip all the old wallpaper from, you know, they had done a ton of hard work. So it was that kind of neighborhood that was classically gay men in particular move into of, you know, good housing stock, good bones, but other people aren't, you know, fallen on bad times. And people come in and fix things up. So we're having that, having trouble with the sound?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2781.0,2857.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nI was asking if it was fair to characterize Lynn in your view as an LGBTQ plus friendly city.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2857.0,2871.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYeah. I I mean, I think, yeah, you know, certainly when we realized there were a lot of gay people in Lynn, so like on our street and the people who'd lived there for a long time, that sort of, I think that was the main evidence. And I would say, you know, it was, we had a, the house had a burglar alarm, which I wasn't used to doing, and I set it off a couple of times. And so the police came and they were totally nice. I later found, we had a next door neighbor, it was a in-law apartment and it was a interracial couple, young white woman and her boyfriend, African-American guy. And we learned from them, he was constantly getting pulled over by the Lynn police. So, so we, you know, we had, we we had, we had our white skin privilege and they didn't care that it was two women.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2871.0,2933.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo you're moving there about the time of the, you know, several years push for marriage equality in Massachusetts. I know that you and Ruth were one of the first couples to be married in Lynn. Were you also part of the political movement pushing for marriage equality? Yeah. equality? Yeah. So we kind of had, so there was this,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2933.0,2962.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\noh gosh, what's the name of it? This is going to drive me crazy. It'll come, I'll, I'll, I'll look it up and send, send send, send it to you if I can't remember it, but oh, it was Mass Equality. The The Mass Equality was the organization that was doing all the political organizing around it. And it was super, super effective, good people who've gone on to do major work in Washington. I mean, in Washington. I mean, they were very, very amazing people. And people. And so we kind of did a little chapter of Mass Equality on the North shore. And so that meant we just, we hosted, there was a, I don't know, I don't even a, I don't know, I don't even know what the frequency was at that point, but regular meetings at a Unitarian church in Salem, but it drew people who are interested in working on this from all around here. And it was really about, so what, what had happened was, you know, it was know, it was a court decision, yay, but then there was an effort by opponents to add something to the state to the state constitution, defining marriages between a man and a woman. So it would have nullified what the court did. So that became, it ended up being something that was going to be in the legislature in a constitutional convention. And so what the organizing was, Mass Mass Equality wanted to, and was successful in saying to everybody they were lobbying, you know, we will have your back. If you get a primary opponent or a general election opponent, we will raise money for you. We will get you volunteers. And so we were part of that broader organizing effort to like, make sure people knew like, you know, who were the legislators up here, who up here, who were our champions, who were we working on? And it was a legislator by legislator effort. I I mean, there are amazing stories of like people who are really on the fence. I mean, think about it. All the, a lot of legislators are Roman Catholic. And it Catholic. And it was like, you know, they really, really weren't sure. Governor Dukakis, who I, I, you know, I knew, I I knew, I knew him to say hello to, I remember talking to him at one point during this time, just I saw him at a political event and, you know, asked for his support and he couldn't do it, you know, and know, and he's a very devout Greek Orthodox. So people, and it's a, you know, it was a religion for people. And, for people. And, and so they're wonderful, wonderful stories of just, you know, individuals and couples, constituents asking for meetings with legislators, sitting with legislators, sitting down with them, talking to them about their lives, getting to know them. And over time it worked. And so, it worked. And so, so we were just helping to organize all that for the legislators up on the North shore. Ruth, I was, where was I at that point? I was working at the Medicaid agency. So I'm, I I don't know why I think there was a point where Ruth maybe had a, I think she was, maybe had I think she was, she was a point where she was consulting or she had more flexibility because there was a point or she had more flexibility because there was a point once the, the constitutional convention came, that came, that was a multi-day thing or the lot lobbying days in the state house. Anyway, in the state house. Anyway, she was on site in the state, state in the state, state house a lot talking to people. And to people. And we have friends who are there with her who would say, yeah, you would talk to anybody, Ruth, and you would have real conversations with them. And she did. And And I don't know how many people's, I think we had more success with in general people going to talk to their legislators. But it's a real world example I draw on when I'm teaching my students of that person to person, telling your story, being physically present with them, you know, it really, really makes a difference.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2962.0,3188.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWe talked a little bit earlier about the palpable sense of a hard turn to the turn to the right in the early 1980s, where you were feeling somewhat defeated. If someone would have told you that 20 years later marriage equality would pass in Massachusetts, would you have believed them? Nope. No. Yeah. you have Nope. No. Yeah. What did it feel like both to be part of that push and then also to have your own marriage sanctioned by this Commonwealth of Massachusetts? Great of Massachusetts? Great question. So the first thing is when the decision came down,","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3188.0,3234.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nyou know, you don't, came down, you know, you don't, when, when, when you know you're not fully accepted, you don't even know the degree to which you walk around with armor on. And so the first thing was, I'll never forget. So Byron Rushing, African-American state representative. There was a, the night the decision came down, there was a rally or something. It was at the, Oh God, one of the main old churches right, right near downtown crossing, which is where like Thomas Paine and people used to, you know, the revolutionary war time used to get together. And there was this rally. And Byron is a, he's an was this rally. And Byron is a, he's an Episcopalian and very active and he's a good preacher. And he just, I'll never forget it. He just was saying, the court has just affirmed what was always true, which is you are full human beings. And, and it, so there just was like, I don't know, it's like a physical feeling was like, I don't know, it's like a physical feeling in your body of relief. That was very, very powerful. I will say, you know, we'd, we'd had a commitment ceremony, you know, 15 years before, and that was the real, you know, like saying vows, you know, like, you know, we're going to like like, you know, vows, you know, we're going to do this and we're going to do that and we're going to do that. And, and it was funny. It was like, at that point, a lot, a lot of gay people would talk about this. It was like about this. It was like their straight friends were more excited about their weddings than we were because most about their weddings than we were because most people had already done something that was personally meaningful. But But I will say after we were legally married, there was a day we're walking down the street, a summer day the street, a summer day and we were just like, We were legally married. There was a day we're walking down the street, a summer day in Boston, after work by PF Chang's at the transportation building. And there's people are sitting out, you know, eating dinner and I'm holding Ruth's hand. And my instinct as we come up near people, it would be to was to drop her hand. Cause that's sort of my habit would be my habit. And I literally thought, fuck it. We're married, you know? So there was, there was something very powerful about that. That's that. That's a pretty, pretty poignant moment.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3234.0,3394.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nThat's That's not the only political initiative that you would be a part of. Obviously played a seminal role in working on the healthcare plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Can you say a little bit about that? Best thing I ever got bit about that? Best thing I ever got to do.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3394.0,3415.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo, Oh gosh, I don't know what's useful. I'll say that it showed me the way I've described it to my students is it was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, such a big, meaningful goal to try and get to almost everybody being on health insurance. And a lot of things were coming together that made it seem possible. So it's like you, you have hope, you see a pathway and it's a inherently motivating goal. It meant that everybody pushed themselves beyond what they thought they could do, push themselves to expend political capital they didn't usually spend, push themselves to take risks they didn't usually take. I mean, for me personally, there was a period, it was like a five month period. I worked as physically hard as I'd ever worked in my life. And I didn't know I could do it. And literally I was working every day, every night, both nights on the weekend, both days on the weekend. And I would just like, lie in my car that I park and I'd lie in my car and I would listen to some spiritual music for like 15 minutes in the morning before I went to work. And it was like, I almost wanted to write to the people who did this CD, like you played a small part in this bill happening because it was like the one thing that would sort of like calm me and recharge me to go at it again. But everybody did that. So I talk about it was almost like a spark across a gap that it just made it happen. And I'd never been part of anything like that. So it's like showed me what can happen.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3415.0,3540.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nTo what degree, if any, in your mind is a healthcare reform, both a women's and an LGBTQ plus issue.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3540.0,3554.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nI hadn't really thought it, but it is. It's an everybody issue and especially anybody who has extra challenges they're dealing with. One of the things we found, like this was a surprise when I first started working on it. One on it. One of the most vulnerable populations for not having healthcare is anybody over 50 because businesses intentionally is anybody over 50 because businesses intentionally try to get rid of people over 50 because your healthcare costs really grow after age 50. So they try to do buyouts and dah, dah, dah. I mean, and dah, dah, dah. I mean, it's like a strategy to minimize personnel and medical costs. So there's so many people who end up being marginalized in the healthcare system. So that goes to gay people, especially. And you go from there to being involved with mental health","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3554.0,3624.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nand health and children and family services. Tell me about that","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3624.0,3630.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nAnd I had actually been doing, so I'd been in the legislature where I had a staff person, human services committee, a lot of breadth, not always a lot of depth, breadth of issues. And then I went to work for the Medicaid agency on a grant funded project specifically funded project specifically on children's mental health and coming up with some new ideas and new ways up with some new ideas and new ways to support families who had a child with a significant mental health condition. And so I did that then when the legislature knew that Mitt Romney was going to be was going to be filing the healthcare bill that I had gotten recruited to come help staff the the committee that would process that bill. So I went back to the legislature, had to take a pay cut to do it. Then finally, we've got a democratic governor, governor Patrick, and and this work on children's mental health, the state had been sued. We were saying we were in violation of the Medicaid act in terms of kids with mental health needs. of kids mental health needs. And they pointed to my pilot program that I'd been working on as the solution. So the litigation is going on while I'm back in the, in the state house. And And then 2007 there's a decision, the litigation, the state's lost its lawsuit and there's now an order from the judge of what we have to do to fix the problem. And so I come back and I get the job to oversee implementing that court order. So, so it was more like in a way, the healthcare, the broad healthcare work was, was, the focus of my work has really always been around mental health and kids' mental health. But because I'd worked at Medicaid, that's a huge part of healthcare. And I knew a lot about healthcare. And because I had experience in the legislature, that's legislature, that's why I kind of got pulled into that. So then going back to the kids' mental health was sort of","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3630.0,3753.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nSo you've been involved in a number of efforts that have been successful. And that's maybe part of a larger national trend, but with regards to the lives of LGBTQ plus people, I think it's fairly accurate to say that there's been a bit of a backlash over the last 10 years over the last 10 years or so. How do you make sense of that backlash? What do you think that's about and to what degree are you","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3753.0,3795.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nSo I'll, I'll end with the optimism and start with the, so I think I'll just tell you a story. There There was a point when Ruth was doing all the work on marriage equality and she was talking to someone from MassPIRG public interest research group. And he was saying, you know, I think it's a mistake to do this through the courts because it's not really moving the populace when it's kind of imposed by the courts. And at the time that felt, you know, he was a white straight cis man. It's like, well, that's easy for you to say. And for you to say. And actually courts have always sort of, I mean, until sort of, I mean, until recently our courts have expanded rights and protections. However, I think, you know, there was controversy in the gay community at the beginning around the strategy of focusing on gay marriage because it, it it, it was brilliant in that it humanized gay people. So it had people think about straight people, think about their own marriages and what were the values and the advantages of their marriages and apply that to other relationships. I mean, love is love, right? That's, it was, it was very effective on that level. I that level. I think the controversy, which I, I didn't really feel, but the controversy at the time was, you know, the norm of marriage is not necessarily a norm that all gay people ascribe to. And this feels like it's ascribe to. And this feels like it's a strategy, but I don't know, whatever it, but it didn't really fit for some people. I think the, what I've heard commentators on the right say is it was kind of like, oh, of like, oh, okay. You know, I guess, I mean, basically I think the, the think the, the population moved to say it doesn't make sense to demonize gay people. They should be able to get married. Then as the, as you know, oppression has lessened. So what's the most stigmatized group trans folks and gender queer folks. And so they're starting to take their space and it's, I think it's like, it's just flipped everybody out. I think actually questioning gender goes to the heart of patriarchy, goes to the heart of just cultural to the heart of patriarchy, goes to the heart of just cultural values. And so you hear people saying like, you know, kind of like, you told us this was going to be about gay people who are maybe 5% of the population. And, oh my God, the younger generation, it's like, what is it now? It's like 20% of the younger of the young millennial and below identify as some form of LGBTQ. So I think, I think for, for conservative Christians especially, it's just freaked them out. And so, and I think it's, it's it's, it's all part of I think, so I got to go to the Kennedy school in 20, 2013, 14. And one of the reasons I wanted to go was like in my work, I was in my work, I was getting to work on very progressive things. Good things were happening. things. Good things were happening. And then the national politics felt like they were going completely retrograde. And it was like, what the hell? I don't understand this. And this. And so what you have to do is get back, you know, 100,000 foot view, tremendous change in every way in our world, mostly driven by technology and communication technologies. And it's like, it's freaked everybody out. And so the, anything that's more destabilizing, it's it's just sparking all over the world. We're seeing it. Right. So I think it's like, you have to understand it in this big, big, big big context. I have to believe, not not that there aren't going to be bad things that happen and people are going to people are going to suffer, but I don't, gay people aren't going back in the closet. Trans people aren't going back in the closet. Women are not happy about losing access to abortion care. So I do think you can't undo this. But I don't think, I think we're in for a rough time.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3795.0,4059.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nThat's a very measured way to cover both your bases. You did learn something in politics. So thanks for that. We covered a tremendous amount of ground. Before I let you go, is I let you go, is there anything that you wanted me to ask you about or something you wanted to talk about that we didn't cover?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4059.0,4093.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nI think just to, I am, just my, our little story of going to get our license at, Lynn City Hall was just, I'll be always be grateful. So, you be grateful. So, you know, the clerks were lovely. They had their new forms that I forget know, the clerks were lovely. They had their new forms that I forget what they say, but instead of bride and groom, it's like, you know, person one and person two or something like that. Very poetic. But one Very poetic. But one of the things that was wonderful was there was a woman there in the office where there was like three of us was there was a woman there in the office where there was like three of us couples getting our licenses. And there was a woman there with her like five-year-old son. And I thought, Oh, And I thought, Oh, she probably was with one of the couples. No, she just came down. She she just came down. She wanted to show her kid history happening. That was beautiful. And beautiful. And then when we came out of city hall and the photographer from the Lynn item took our picture, there was photographer from the Lynn item took our picture, there was her name was an April, but the, it was a breakfast joint called April's. It's not, it's not there anymore. it was a breakfast joint called April's. It's not, it's not there anymore. A lot of gay people went there. And she, And she, she wasn't part of the community, but, you know, super duper ally, wonderful person. Well, unbeknownst to all of us, she had gotten her pickup truck and sort of decked it out and had this like lovely tablecloth and a basket full of baked goods and a coffee, big coffee thermos thing. And she camped thing. And she camped out in front of Lynn city hall to like, just be celebrating with us. And so those are, were just wonderful things and very, they feel very Lynn like to me the things that I've loved about Lynn. And, and I think also like for people to know, you know, one of the saddest things in my life is there was a, I was probably a is there was a, I was probably a pew. They do a lot of surveys on, on what religious attitudes. And it was, this is about 10 years old, but they were asking young people, you know, like young adults and teens, what they knew about Christianity. And the thing that people knew about Christianity was Christians hate gays. They did not know basic basic things about Christianity. They did not know basic, basic understandings of teachings of Jesus. And that is the most, just, just sad, very sad. And in every denomination, there are conservative elements and, or parts. I mean, it's like, look, the Methodists have just kind of split over this, but there are lots of people of faith who don't think gay people are horrible. And are much more aligned with real, the real, the real love at the heart of the religion. So anyway, that's just a thing. You know, just a thing. You know, the, my, my community at St. Stephens St. Stephens has been huge for me. Do huge for me. Do you have a copy of that Lynn item photo that you were mentioning? You know, we must somewhere.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4093.0,4283.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWell, I'm sure you have the date so we can track it down. Yes. I know that Bill, Bill has it. Okay, good.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4283.0,4291.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nCause that's how he, he found me. I mean, we go to church together, but we didn't know that, you know, till he saw the picture. Oh, I know her.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4291.0,4302.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nWell, thank you for your willingness to spend some time with me and, and tell me your story. This This was so fun. I really, really loved your questions.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4302.0,4314.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Emily Sherwood\n\nYou're really good at this. Oh, good. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4314.0,4318.0"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/transcript/71575/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Andrew Darien\n\nThis","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4318.0,4319.967"}]},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Emily Sherwood index [Index]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Schenectady is a lot like Lynn.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=64.06,213.982"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My dad's military service informed my public service.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=213.982,298.74"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":" I grew up in the Episcopal Church.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=298.74,458.246"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My superpower in government is engaging people.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=458.246,577.102"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My two sisters and I were very close.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=577.102,664.981"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My first political rally was against the Viet Nam war.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=664.981,1020.62"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"The theater group was fantastic.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1020.62,1071.021"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My first crush was on my math teacher.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1071.021,1125.97"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"It was scary to feel I was different.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1125.97,1234.461"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Coming out was a gradual process.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1234.461,1357.202"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My first gay bar was Gala in Northampton.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1357.202,1435.821"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mount Holyoke was in transition.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1435.821,1528.562"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I fit in at Mount Holyoke.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1528.562,1671.362"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"We produced a \"women's music\" concet yearly.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1671.362,1744.967"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"My partner and I formed a production company.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1744.967,1791.101"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I came out when I fell in love.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=1791.101,2087.9"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"There was a political sea change in the 1980s.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2087.9,2378.181"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Working at the legislature was amazina and fun.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2378.181,2593.081"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Lynn real estate was more affordable.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2593.081,2743.426"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Our neighborhood had a lot of gay people.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2743.426,2971.503"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Mass Equality was very effective fighting for marriage equality.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=2971.503,3057.262"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Legislators got to know LGBTQ+ people.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3057.262,3216.807"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Intense relief after the Marriage Equality decision.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3216.807,3413.316"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"I never worked harder than the MA healthcare plan.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3413.316,3795.684"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Questioning gender goes to the heart of patriarchy.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=3795.684,4097.749"},{"id":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299/index/84659/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"supplementing","body":[{"type":"TextualBody","value":"We got our license at Lynn City Hall.","format":"text/plain","label":{"en":["Title"]}}],"target":"https://througharainbowlens.aviaryplatform.com/collections/2385/collection_resources/132526/file/247299#t=4097.749,4319.967"}]}]}]}