Vermont passed a law permitting civil unions and reckognizing same sex marriages in April of 2000. Over a year later the state was littered with signs pleading "Take Back Vermont". These signs were kept simple (black text on a white ground) to obscure the conversation and avoid causing undue tension within the essential tourist industry.

"Take Back Vermont" is a complex statement which means (among other things) take Vermont back to the days preceeding a "string of intrusive and liberal government initiatives". The signs (originally created by a heifer farmer named Richard Lambert) were the start of a continuing debate regarding civil unions which includes a failed "recipricol partnership" bill and reactionary campaigns called "Take Vermont Forward" and "Straight From Vermont".

This series of digitally stitched and collaged photographs was made in response to my interactions with the "Take Back Vermont" campaign. Brochure style images were created to mimic traditional representations of Vermont while including evidence of a pre-existing homesexual population. This negates a conservative belief in Vermont that there was no homosexual community prior to the recognition of civil unions.