by Lynn McNichol and EuanBear
Meadowdanceis a community-in-the-making that reveres diversity – which is whythey’re looking for members of the lgbtq communities to come jointhem.
Currently, the community’s12 members, both adults and children, are living in a dorm at thenow-defunct Goddard College in Plainfield while they fine-tune plans tobuild an ecovillage on 200 acres in Marshfield.
While the living arrangements and ideals ofMeadowdance are perhaps more reminiscent of a 1960s-style commune, thecommunity supports itself with two 21st-century computer-relatedbusinesses. Diversity is one of those ideals – welcoming people ofall types of backgrounds, including gays and lesbians. There are no gayor lesbian members or “seekers” (potential members stayingwith the community while considering joining) currently at thecommunity.
“All peoplewho share the philosophy of the community are welcome, regardless ofwhat world groups they belong to,” declares the group’smembership policy.
Before thebuilding of their eco-village can begin, Meadowdance will need to obtainapproval from town officials and raise enough money for construction.According to Marshfield Town Clerk Bobbi Brimblecombe, the group has notyet applied for the needed permits. A presentation by the group at aDesign Review Board meeting was received with skepticism by boardmembers, she said. “There was skepticism that the plan as presentedby the group’s representatives would comply with the TownPlan,” she said.
For now, thecramped quarters of the rented dorm at Goddard shelters members as wellas visitors, plus an assortment of pets, including three cats, an iguanaand a hamster.
In the dorm,members have their own rooms, but computer workstations take up part ofthe space. Meals are shared. Leila, at 17 the elder teenager atMeadowdance, cooked dinner one evening recently, serving a Thai noodledish to the vegetarians and omnivore members and a guest; othersgathered in the small living room to talk. Later on, Sebastian, 12,wandered in to show off his new snowboarding jacket. Outside, snow laymore than a foot deep in the early evening dark.
Meadowdance envisions a nurturing lifestyle inwhich members support each other financially and emotionally. Thesecular community says it respects individual religious and spiritualpractices. Community finances are shared, while members have their ownspending money.
Nuts and Bolts
That personal stipend or allowance is“quite little at the moment, consonant with the frugalitywe’ve been practicing since we started up,” wrote Luc Reid, aspokesman for the group, in response to an email query: $58 per adultper month as an entertainment, clothing, and personal expensesallowance. “Presumably over time as we build up our economicstrength we’ll be able to increase it,” he added. “Themoney comes from our business earnings, as does the money for everythingelse.”
The group alsoshares its noncommercial workload, using a point system to keep track oftime each member works.
Members are notrequired to work for Dragonfly, the community’s softwaretesting business, or Wordsworth, their typing and editing business– although currently all adult members do.
Adult members are guaranteed basic needs such ashousing, food, health care and transportation as long as they meet thework requirements of 45 hours per week plus community “chores”– cooking, clean-up, shopping, and learning activities with thechildren. They may also work outside the community if they wish to makemore money for themselves.
Thegroup’s members strive for their vision of a sustainable lifestyle.The group shares one washer and dryer, and two cars get them around.Plans for the future Meadowdance community include construction ofhighly energy-efficient homes and a community center. Members alsoenvision future gardens using permaculture and organic growingmethods.
Meadowdance emphasizes thecreation of a nurturing environment in which to raise children, andplans to open its small community school to outside children in thefall, said Sue Morris, a Meadowdance founding member. According to LucReid, There are five children just now, with three more coming thissummer. One is not of school age yet; two attend Twinfield, the localpublic school, and there are two schooled primarily within theMeadowdance community.
The group’svision of equality includes a group consensus process meant to takeeveryone’s concerns into consideration.
Meadowdance is open to prospective members andhopes to rent another building from Goddard in the near future toaccommodate the group’s growth. Currently a straight community,Meadowdance members made a point of inviting readers of OITM toconsider joining them.
Diversity in Belief andAction
Why would we –lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer people – be interestedin joining this community?
“Ultimately the things that might be attractive aboutMeadowdance to some members of the gltbq community are the same thingsthat were attractive to all of us who are here now: the ability to joinin a celebratory, creative culture of people who get a kick out ofpooling their efforts – where children are treated with respect andconsideration, where ecologically sound living is central, where we canshare talents and time with other people of like mind,” said LucReid, a founding member.
Kristy and Jaime,a lesbian couple then from Massachusetts, had decided to check it outand stayed at Meadowdance for three weeks last year before moving on.The couple was interested in coming to Vermont for a civil union, andhad contact with Meadowdance before moving in. They found the peoplefriendly and felt welcomed, but questioned some aspects of thecommunity. The work requirement – then nearly 50 hours per week– was more than they had bargained for, Kristy said, and she andJaime felt there was little time to attend lgbtq events or gatheringsoutside Meadowdance.
“We knowwe’re in a founding stage,” said member Amanda Walden.“We have a limited number of resources,” she said, indicatingthat as finances improve and the membership grows, the workload may bereduced.
Kristy and Jaime have otherconcerns that, while the ideal goal is for equality among all themembers, a few individuals appear to hold more power. They were alsosurprised to learn that members, via e-mail, had considered using themas representation for the gay community without contacting them first.Kristy and Jaime said they are not endorsing the group, largely becauseof group dynamics rather than gender issues.
Community members agreed that it can be hard tojoin the group process. “Some people are more outspoken thanothers,” Amanda admitted.
Luc said he heard concerns about the powerdynamic from another prospective member who also decided to leave.“People need to be vocal,” he said, acknowledging that peoplelike himself who feel comfortable speaking up are more likely to havetheir concerns addressed.
A post-visitemail exchange sought to clarify further why a gay man or lesbian wouldwant to join a straight intentional community, no matter howwell-intentioned that community is in seeking diversity, especiallygiven what appears to be an isolationist tendency, living and workingtogether, and not having independent access to transportation to glbtqsupport and events.
“I thinkthat the impression that we’re isolationist may be a mistakenone,” Luc wrote. “We attend political and entertainment events(for example, most of our members attended the [January] peace march);some of our children go to the local public school and we attend schoolevents; those of us who participate in an organized religion worshiplocally; we see friends and neighbors at stores and the co-op; we meetfolks at the library; we have local friends over to visit; our childrengo back and forth to their friends’ houses; in the fall we’llbe opening a school that will have room for a small number of local kidsfrom outside the community; and so on. Really our level of isolationisn’t particularly different from that of a family with a homebusiness.”
About independentaccess to transportation, he explained, “Members are welcome tokeep private vehicles, and members who don’t do so have virtuallyunrestricted access to vehicles in community use. Not only are carsprovided to independently travel to events they want to attend, butMeadowdance pays for fuel for local travel.”
Meadowdancer Sue Morris joined the discussionabout why lgbtq people might want to become members of this community:“Living in a community based on how you choose to live your sexuallife might not be as rewarding as choosing to live in a community thatshares not only those values, but your other life values, yourphilosophy of living, of treading lightly on the earth, of communingwith others to share work, play and vision. As an egalitarian,child-centered community that welcomes human diversity, ecologicalsensibility, mutual learning and joy, we welcome people who share ourvision of cooperative living. How we live our sexual life is only oneaspect of who we are.”
Luccontinued, “There’s a sense here that children and adultsdeserve and get respect; that you can trust people to take care ofthings and to take your feelings into account; that you’ll besupported in your decisions; that we’re doing our best to stewardthe environment; and so on. People also come here to live because theywant to be part of a solution for problems like unchecked consumerism,environmental destruction, and lack of connection between individuals inthe world.
“It alsomight be attractive to live in a community of people who support yoursexuality, rather than people who tolerate it or worse, nail ‘TakeBack Vermont’ signs on their barns,” said Luc. “Certainlyit’s been my impression that gays and lesbians who have been herehave felt a level of comfort and freedom that they don’t generallyfind outside the GLBTQ community.
Asked what having glbtq members does for them asa community, Luc responded, “We don’t value a woman in ourcommunity because she’s a lesbian, or because she isn’t –and all else being equal, we’d prefer that there were both lesbiansand straight woman (and gay men and straight men and bi men and womenand transgendered men and women), because being with a variety of peopleon a day to day basis, from our point of view, enriches the experienceof life.”
The skepticaljournalist pushed a bit further, asking whether the community might havean economic agenda in recruiting lgbtq members who might have adecreased likelihood of having children.
“We value people over money in anycase,” responded Luc, “although not having children does makeit easier to get in if we’re in a financial or work crunch. Forinstance, at this point we can’t afford to take single parents ofsmall children, even though we hope to be able to reverse thatlimitation quite soon. Also, I expect we would attract gay men andlesbians who disproportionately do have children, because of our focuson providing a supportive environment for children.”
Amanda and her partner Ken Walden are expectingtheir first baby in July. They seem eager to open the community to amore diverse group.
Asked whether thecommunity would fund artificial insemination if a lesbian member wantedto bear a child after joining, Luc responded, “Interestingquestion! It hasn’t ever yet come up; we would have to discuss itas a group to come to a decision. I would suspect we’d be inclinedto fund such a thing, but that’s just my personalsense.”
Pushed to answerrelated questions – would the community exercise veto power overthat desire depending on community finances; would it exercise vetopower over a single or married straight woman who wanted to bear a childand could become pregnant without medical intervention – theanswers suggested that Luc (and by extension, Meadowdance) had not yetworked out the details of true equality where childbearing is concerned.
“We don’t consider it to beup to the community whether or not someone has a child. Of course it hasan impact on the community, but as a group we only really have powersover the things that we’ve agreed to cover as a group, and havingchildren is not one of those things.” That is, Luc later amended,“we as a community have decided not to make any Agreements aboutpeople having children, and therefore we don’t exercise any controlover that kind of decision.”
“We have to get some pioneers here,”Ken said, “so members can feel akin to people of anothergroup.”
Looking at theircurrent level of diversity, members pointed out that, while Meadowdanceis primarily Caucasian and heterosexual at present, some of thecommunity’s children have a Hispanic father, and a few membersspeak Spanish.
“We hope togrow at a slow rate because of the intensive membership process,”said Amanda, the community’s “Member Caretaker.” Sheexplained that when a new family moves in, it changes the dynamics ofthe community.
While themembership policy seems complicated, in reality it wasn’t thathard, Kristy said. Basically, prospective members must go through trialperiods of living at Meadowdance, and they must adhere to communityAgreements. To demonstrate the group’s commitment to humandiversity, Luc Reid told the following story:
“When we were forming, between 1997 and2000, we had one participant who was enthusiastic about the community inlarge part because of his interest in ecological sustainability. We havelong had a core agreement about ‘equality among all people,regardless of race, color, gender, spirituality, sexual orientation,background and age·’ but I think he thought it was primarily lipservice. When the subject came up in a political discussion and herealized that the rest of us were actively supportive of the glbtqcommunity, he said of his family ‘Yes, we tolerate them – butof course we teach our children that it’s wrong.’ We told himhe was in the wrong group. He left.”
Money Matters– Or Not
The financialpicture is also taken into consideration for potential membership. Thecommunity claims that it welcomes possible members who have no money toinvest and will work to find ways to make that possible. On the otherhand, members would have to consider the practicality of accepting as amember someone, for example, who has unusually high health carecosts.
Asked whether members agree toinvest all their existing assets, such as retirement accounts,investments, term insurance policies, stock dividends, property –or the value derived from its sale – cars, and so on, Luc Reid saidno.
“We ask new members if they havemoney they want to loan to the community when they come in, butit’s strictly up to individual discretion whether they loananything or not – if indeed they have anything to loan, which noteveryone does,” Luc wrote in an email. “I think that as a rulewe would tend to urge people not to liquidate retirement funds or otherassets, because after all a person can’t be certain when coming toMeadowdance that they’ll stay forever. That’s certainly thegeneral intention, but of course people change overtime.”
Meadowdance isorganized financially as a limited liability partnership in which thecommunity holds its land and businesses in common. Assets –including land, buildings, computers, and other resources held in common– would pay any debts, Luc said, and individuals would not be heldliable. Individuals’ investments, however, could be lost, if thecommunity were to dissolve, he said.
Interestingly, two types of membership are basedon disability. A blocking member is permitted to block consensus, and anonblocking member is not allowed to. The current definition of anonblocking member is someone who is dependent on others for dailyliving due to a mental or emotional disability. Luc explained that thedistinction is made so that “someone [who] can’t understandwhat’s going on, can’t overrule.” He said in five years,no one has blocked consensus.
Luc saidit’s “amazing” how close Meadowdance has come toachieving its ideals – except in their current livingsituation.
Visions and Permits
With three years of planning and a couplemore years of shared living behind them, Meadowdance members are lookingto the future.
The communityowns 200 acres of fields, woodlands, streams and a pond in Marshfield, ahouse inhabited by tenants, and a barn. The pond was once used for anice business, and until a storm in 1912 destroyed the trees, there was amaple sugaring business. The group would like to bring the maples back,Luc said.
Plans for the future Meadowdanceinclude building a cluster of homes and a community center on 20 acres,leaving the remaining 180 acres in a mostly natural state. Possibly carswon’t be allowed on the land any further than a roadside parkinglot. As many as 75 people could live in the community.
Called a planned residential development, or PRD,the clustered housing is allowed within the conservation/forestry zoneof the land. However, the local Development Review Board “appearsto me to be much more cautious about permitting PRDs inconservation/forestry [zones] than in agriculture/residential,” Lucsaid. He thinks it could take six months to get town approval. Detailedplans or drawings were not made available to OITM.
There may be some reservations on the part oftownspeople who aren’t familiar with intentional communities suchas Meadowdance. Community members say they are eager to talk withneighbors to learn what their concerns may be. Sue said one issue thatcame up previously was possible light pollution from the futurecommunity buildings. That problem has been addressed in the plans, whichare being revised, she said.
Summing up,Sue explained, “Egalitarianism isn't just a cool word, it’s aphilosophy that people are valuable no matter what their sexualorientation, no matter what their economic status, no matter what theirlevel of education, no matter what their background, interests, race, oreven taste for pickles is. It is a deep felt and daily philosophy here.This is a place where men can let out their gentle, nurturing side withsupport and females their strong, mathematical side. That is somethingthat is not available in the common culture. Perhaps there are peoplewho are interested in living in that kind of place.”
LynnMcNicol has lived in an intentional community in the southern US and nowlives in Burlington. Euan Bear briefly lived and worked with a lesbiancollective in Hinesburg a quarter century ago.