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V 2 I Out in the Mountains

I September 2000

= news =-

‘Warm Line’ Receives Funding

BY BARBARA DOZETOS

Victims of same-gender
domestic and sexual violence
in Chittenden County will soon
have a new resource backed
financially by a fund that sup-
ports the gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender community in
Vermont.

The Same Sex Domestic
and Sexual Violence
Subcommittee of the
Chittenden County Domestic
Violence Task Force recently
received a $2000 grant from
the‘ Samara Foundation of
Vermont to develop a phone
line for survivors —of same-sex
domestic and sexual violence.
The service is referred to as a
‘warm line’ because it will not
be staffed 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, as a hotline
would be.

Celia Cuddy, executive
director of the Women’s Rape

  
    

Celia Cuddy, Executive Director of the Women's Rape Crisis Center

accpeted the $2000 grant from Bill Lippert, executive director of the

Samara Foundation of Vermont.

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The Rape Crisis Center
operates a hotline in
Chittenden County. According
to Cuddy, 15 percent of their
calls come from people who
are assaulted by a partner. Last
year, the hotline received at 25

The line will offer absolute support,
regardless of who you are and who

you love.

Crisis Center, and a self-
described lesbian survivor of
same—sex domestic violence,
told a press conference in
August that violenceloccurs in
somewhere between a quarter
and a third of all relationships.
“Members of our community
are not immune to the difficul—
ties in our culture,” she said.
“No person should experience
violence in a relationship.”

calls from men‘ who had been
raped or battered by men, and
more than 50 resulted from
women attacking other
women.

Same-sex violence can be a
hate crime, Cuddy told the
crowd. A presumably straight
man will rape a man perceived
to be gay, claiming to give the
victim “what he is asking for.”

Currently, the only resource

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for individuals who suffer
same-gender domestic attacks
or rape is to call the rape crisis
hotlines. While those lines are
usually eager to help, Cuddy
said it is critical to establish the
visibility of the warm line
directed at same-sex abuse.

“Too many_ gays and les-
bians have endured violence
alone,” she said. The stigma of
being abused by a member of
the same gender keeps most
victims in the GLBT commu-
nity from seeking help. She
said many people call the
existing hotlines saying, “I
don’t know if I’m calling the
right place” or “I don’t know if
it was rape.”

Public awareness, said
Cuddy, is the first step: to let
the community know the line
exists and that same-sex
domestic violence or rape is as
much a crime as that between
members of opposite sexes.

The warm line will be
staffed by people sensitive to
the situations and needs of gay

teases i..%i§£>§

Same-sex Domestic Violence 008 Having Mixed Impact

on GLBT Campaigns

BY JASON. WHIPPLE

“May you live in interesting
times” runs an old Chinese
curse. ’

Curse or blessing, Rev.
Brendan Hadash expects to be
doing just that this fall, as do
many other GLBT candidates
vying for seats in the legisla-
ture in the wake of passage of
the civil unions law.

“There are‘ a lot of Take
Back Vermont and Ruth
Dwyer signs up here in the
Northeast Kingdom,” said
Hadash. The Unitarian

Universalist minister from St. ’

Johnsbury said he’s yet to see
much reaction: negative or
positive, to his fledgling
Democratic candidacy for an
Essex-Orleans seatin the state
Senate.

“But it will be interesting
rurming as an openly gay man
up here,” he said.‘

In the face of very vocal,
very visible opposition to civil
unions and civil-union-sup-
porters under the Take Back
Vermont banner, candidates’
expectations about the events
of campaign season vary on
that “interesting” theme, and‘
widely.

Bob Bland, a Democratic
candidate in the Orange 2
House race, is already facing
his opposition quite literally:
two Take Back Vermont signs
have been posted on his own
Vershire property, pointed
directly at his home and his
GLBT pride flag.

Bland refused to take down
the signs, saying he ‘ would

wait for the perpetrators to-

remove them. He hoped the
incident would spur silent sup-
porters into action.

“Lots of people are coming
out of the woods to let the
world know that hate folk are a

small minority in this part of
the world,” wrote Bland in an
open letter to local papers.
Judith Lashof of Sudbury
also hopes to capitalize on
backlash to the backlash.
“Running for office as a les-
bian now is exciting,” said
Lashof, who is seeking a
House seat in the Addison-
Rutland-2 district. “I’ve gotten
wonderful encouragement and
support from the Democratic
Party.” She said that many of
her campaign volunteers and
contributors have been moti-
vated specifically by the issue.
In contrast, civil unions
don’t seem to have figured into
the Windsor-5 House race at

i all.

‘‘I have been talking to vot-
ers about issues that they iden-
tify as being important to
them: the cost of prescription
drugs and Act 60,” said
Random Guy of Chester, a
Democratic candidate in the
Windsor-5 House race. “Civil
unions are not a big‘ issue
here.”

State Senate candidate Jerry
Acosta of Burlington said he’s
aware the political climate is
heated, and is prepared for
negative reaction, but so far
has seen none. Acosta said he
does expect to be touted as
“the gay candidate.”

And Karen Kerin, a
Republican from South
Royalton challenging Rep.
Bernie Sanders for the state’s
sole U.S. Congress seat, said
the issue has not affected her
campaign directly. Kerin said
the issue will likely have an
indirect and ongoing impact as
part of the larger issue of per-
ceived legislative unrespon-
siveness to the wishes of con-
stituents. V

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