Moats, David 1947-

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MOATS, David 1947-

PERSONAL: Born 1947, in Salt Lake City, UT; married (divorced); children: Jared, Thatcher, Nina. Education: University of California at Santa Barbara, B.A., 1969.

ADDRESSES: Home—Middlebury, VT. Office—Rutland Herald, 27 Wales St., P.O. Box 668, Rutland, VT 05702-0668. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Journalist. Rutland Herald, Rutland, VT, wire editor, state editor, assistant managing editor, city editor, 1981-92, editorial page editor, 1992—. Peace Corps, Afghanistan, 1969-72.

AWARDS, HONORS: Vermont Playwright's Award, 1988, for Hard News; Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage, Harcourt/Harvest Books (Orlando, FL), 2004.

Also the author of eleven plays, including Hard News, four of which have been produced by theater companies in Vermont. Moats's articles have also appeared in the New York Times and the Washington Post.

SIDELIGHTS: Vermont journalist David Moats was the recipient of the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in editorial writing for his series of editorials on the issue of civil unions for same-sex partners. Examining this contentious issue in the context of the state of Vermont's struggle to legislatively craft such civil unions, Moats presented, according to the Pulitzer Prize Web site, "an even-handed and influential series of editorials commenting on [this] divisive issue." Asked by a contributor for NewsWatch Online about the inspiration for this series of editorials, Moats commented that "the news inspired the editorials. It was what was happening in Vermont, and the issue had to be covered. Beyond that, it was apparent the community would benefit from clear-headed, non ideological commentary that would create a climate where reasonable discussion could take place." These editorials in turn gave rise to Moats's 2004 book about this issue, Civil Wars: A Battle for Gay Marriage.

According to Susan McMillan in Out in the Mountains, Moats—a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara—"came to this issue naturally, having been influenced by a call to conscience in a campus speech he attended in 1965." Listening to an associate of Martin Luther King, Jr., "Moats found himself wondering why he was sitting in school rather than riding a freedom bus in the South," according to McMillan. After graduation, Moats volunteered with the Peace Corps in Afghanistan for three years. By the early 1980s he was an editor at the Rutland Herald in Rutland, Vermont, a paper with a circulation a little over 20,000. There he worked his way up to editor of the editorial page, and when the Vermont Supreme Court handed down its landmark 1999 decision directing the state legislature to come up with a civil union bill appropriate for gay couples, Moats was in a perfect position to explore the controversial subject.

Polls in the state showed that over half of Vermonters disagreed with the court; nonetheless, Moats ran his series of editorials in favor of civil unions, arguing for equal rights and also pleading for sanity and Christian charity to be shown by both sides of the debate. Angry mail poured into the offices of the Rutledge Herald after Moats's editorials, but for Moats this was part of the purpose of his articles: giving people a chance to vent their anger and views. Most of these letters to the editor were published. The entire process of legislative creation of civil unions for gays gave Vermonters a chance to debate the issue and come to terms with the concept of alternate marriages and lifestyles. Moats noted to David Mehegan of the Boston Globe after winning the 2001 Pulitzer for his series that the prize was a "'kind of confirmation that it was worthwhile for us to stick our neck out like we did. It was a volatile atmosphere, and it's nice to hear that we were doing the right thing.'"

Moats expanded this editorial work into Civil Wars, a "clear and fair-minded account of what may be the most important domestic social issue facing 21st-century America," according to Library Journal's Jeff Ingram. In the book, Moats details the battle in Vermont to craft a civil union law for the state. After the Vermont Supreme Court decided that the legislature should take up the issue, it came to the House Judiciary Committee to draft a bill, and its members included both proponents and opponents of gay marriage, including the only openly gay member of the legislature. In open hearings and in evening sessions, both sides were given a chance to lay out their arguments for and against gay union. In the end, the legislature opted not to go for gay marriage, but instead for a civil union law that would provide the same legal benefits as marriage but would not necessarily be recognized outside of the state of Vermont. In his book, Moats records the lawsuit that brought the matter to the public eye in the first place, the supreme court ruling, and the legislative process, focusing on prominent personalities in Vermont politics, putting a "human face on this divisive issue," as Ingram commented. Reviewing the title in Booklist, Ray Olson noted that Moats "reports clearly and fairly from a thoroughly secular perspective." Similarly, Judy Ashkenaz, writing in Yankee, found Moats's book "valuable reading for anyone who wants to understand one of the central issues of our time." Higher praise came from a Publishers Weekly contributor who called Civil Wars a "gripping piece of journalistic history." The same reviewer concluded that "Moats's account emerges as essential reading for Americans on both sides of the partisan aisle." Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Ted Widmer observed that Moats "succeeds for many of the reasons that the debate succeeded. He tells the story on a human scale, writing about individuals rather than trends, and wisely avoids the ideological ukases that have been issuing from both left and right lately."

Moats, writing on Powells.com, noted that the Vermont example could be used nationwide. He remarked that the "story of civil unions in Vermont contains all the elements of the struggle for gay marriage being played out in Massachusetts, San Francisco, Portland, New York, and elsewhere. There is the determination of thousands of people to stand up for their rights; there is anger and religious outrage; there is a fearful appeal to tradition; there are complex unresolved constitutional questions; and there is the volatile and unpredictable political reaction. In Vermont people learned there was nothing to fear. Ultimately, one hopes that is the lesson that is learned across the land."