.,..,I”,

2 | Out in the Mountains

[November 2000

-—= news =

Ellis Dead at 101

_ Ruth Ellis, known as the
oldest out lesbian, died in her
sleep last month at her home
in Detroit. She was 101.

“I’m just an ordinary little
woman,” she once told a
reporter from the ‘Boston
Globe. But the 48-inch tall,
83-pound woman known as
Ruth by most everyone she
encountered led an extraordi-
nary life.

On Sept. 9, Ellis attended a
celebration of the opening of
Detroit’s Ruth Ellis Center for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Youth. Each
February, that city celebrates
Ruth Ellis Day as part of
Black History Month. And she
was the subject of an award-
winning documentary by
Yvonne Welbon titled “Living
With Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100.”

Bev Youree of Richford,
VT knew the diminuitive
black woman through their

mutual involvement in Golden
Threads, an organization set
up to connect older lesbians to
one another.

Youree said she’ll always
remember meeting Ellis.
“Here was this tiny black 96-
year-old woman telling us
about the job she had in the
retirement home where she
lived.”

Ellis, it seemed, went door
to door within the high rise
building getting her neigh-
bors’ shopping lists. She
would then head out to the
store to procure the needed
items for “the old folks” as she
called them.

“She was easily 20 years
older than most of the people
she was running errands for!”
said Youree. “She lived her
life as she saw fit; she was an
inspiration to all of us.”

V

 
    

Jan Dunlap (standing) was among the speakers featured on the

SOIQZOC] EJEQJEQ Z010l.ld

Generations Panel at the VCLGR Annual Conference on Oct. 21.
Vincent Downing and Tim Palmer (l to rseated) also spoke.

 

INSIDE oitm

World News Brlels .
lln-Eil 
Letters  
Health & Welllielnn 
Milestones 
The source........................18
community l:ompass...........2lJ
calendar 
Arts & Entertainment ........23
Baylty...............................29

 

  
 

l:i-ow's caws.......................4
Faltli Matters....................13
legal Bi-lets 
Stonehenge to 8tonewaIl....1ll

departments

columns

Commission: Few Bumps in CU Implementation

 

BY BARBARA DOZETOS

MONTPELIER—Despite
the political turmoil stirred up
by the passage of Vermont’s
legal recognition of same-sex
couples, Act 91 seems to have
caused little trouble for its
administrative agencies.

The committee overseeing
the law’s implementation con-
vened for the first time on Oct.
4 for testimony from several
state agencies. While the
Banking, Insurance, Securities,
and Health Care
Administration is still working
to meet the Jan. 1, 2001, effec-
tive date for its portion of the
act, the Department of Health
and the Secretary of State
reported few problems and lit-
tle additional work for employ-
ees.

According to Bill Apao,
director of health statistics for
the Department of Health,
beyond the challenge of getting
the system up and running in
less than three months, there
has been little increase in
workload and minimal cost for
his agency.

As of Sept. 30, 769 certified.

civil unions were reported to
Apao’s office. Two-thirds of
those couples are female, and
the median age of individuals
joined in civil union is 40. This
compares to 31 as the median
age for couples getting married

in the state.

Seventy—five percent of civil
unions certified by Sept. 30
were for couples living outside
Vermont. People from 46
states, the District of
Columbia, Canada, and seven
other countries have traveled to
the state for civil unions, in
spite of the likelihood that their
new status will not be recog-

nized when they return home. _-

New York residents repre-
sent 101 of the unions certified
to date, second only to
Vermonters. They are followed
in number by couples from
Massachusetts (63), California
(50), and Florida (42). Only
Mississippi, Montana, North
Dakota, and Wyoming are not
represented so far.

It is too early in the process,
said Apao, to tell whether these
statistics will be characteristic
of civil unions in general.
“After the law has been in
effect for a couple of years,” he
said, “we’ll have a better idea
of what typical is.”

Only anecdotal information,
said Apao, is available regard-
ing longevity of relationships
prior to obtaining civil unions.

Rep. Bill Lippert, D-
Hinesburg, appointed by the
Speaker of the House to the
commission, said his experi-
ence indicated that most cou-
ples entering civil unions in the
early stages of its availability
are those in established long-

term committed relationships.
“They are accessing civil
unions,” he said, “to acquire
the legal benefits now avail-
able to them.”

Brattleboro town clerk
Annette Cappy, appointed to
the panel by Governor Howard
Dean, agreed. She said her
office has issued approximate-
‘ly 180 civil union licenses. “If
I had to guess,” she said, ‘‘I’d
say the average length of a
relationship so far is 20 years.”

Secretary of State Deborah
Markowitz told commissioners
that her office received many
questions before Act 91 took
effect, particularly from town
clerks and justices of the peace,
but that subsided after a series
of training workshops.

“With the exception of a
small handful, most [clerks]
saw it as just paperwork,”
Markowitz testified. “l find
this remarkable, considering
most of them had little or no
personal experience with gays
and lesbians prior to this.” She

said her office has received no .

reports of any town clerks
refusing to issue licenses to
couples who request them. “By
and large,” she said, “they are
doing their duty.”
Commission member
Harvey Golubock, chair of the

Vermont Human Rights
Commission, also testified
before the group about

iiéfifisiéiaiéfifiifité 3&2

 

N\e*‘5ve\-S tyle. CD”?
.o0‘“

N\e'\5e\-S tyle, Com
.c°‘°

we‘
.00”

N\e-‘gel-Style, Com
.o°‘“

N\e-‘Eel-S tyIe_ Corn
.009‘

Nm-\5g\—S tyle, earn
.c0‘“

we‘
.c°‘“

N\e-‘gel-Style_ Cum
.c°‘“

NW-‘gel-s tyle_ Corn
.009‘

r_=,8\‘StYle. con?

52‘-SCY‘E',Qo,h

el-S tyle, Cum

 

u\e‘5

N\a'\5el—Sl3l/le_ Cam

 
 

NW-‘gel-S t'.yle_ Corn

.009‘ Meisel-Snyle .G°‘“

 
  
  
 
  
 
  

  

 
     
    
    

Me/Se,_Sty|e Lot“
/Weisel_Sw\e A-jot“
’V/eise,_Sw‘e Lo?“

/Weise,_sw‘e fiat“

   
   
  

         
  
  
   
 
   

   

/We/Sehswje ‘ got“

N\e‘\5e\-S I'.yIe_ 00,77 we.

/We,'Se'_Sw‘e_5o<“

N\a'\5e\-S tyle, Cum Me.

Me/se,_Sty‘e_Cot“
N\e~\5e\-S tyle, Corn

MejSe,_SW‘e _Cot\"

   

N\e~\5e\-S tyle_ Cum

’We,'ss,_Swle _ cot“
‘\!\e‘\5e\-S tY'E_ 90,77

Me/Se,_sw\e Igor“
N\e'\r_:,e\—5 T-Vie, Cum

Me,‘Se,_Swh,__cot“
N\a‘\5el-5El/le, 00,77

Meisersnyie . 0°“

E!-Style . 0°m

‘-"4SeI-style .0°«‘