Quote"I never really understood those," the 49-year-old Bethel resident says, "but I got the sense there were people who felt that something had been taken away from them, that the gay and lesbian community in Vermont always wants something."

He cites the call for a hate crimes law, adopted by the Legislature in 1990. For legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, adopted in 2000. For anti-discrimination protection for transgender people, adopted last year.

"I think of those things as civil rights, but I sensed that some people felt the gay and lesbian community always asked for or demanded things. They didn't share my understanding of the extent to which the community really gives back."