OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS

established in 1986
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Euon Bear 8; Jason Whipple
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Sandy Reeks

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’ 'STA'l'EMENT_OF PURPOSE‘  :

The purpose of Out in the Mountains is to serve as a voice for =

lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgendered people, and our

« supporters in Vermont. We wish the newspaper to be a source

of information, insight, and affirmation. We /also’see_ OITM as

a vehicle for the celebration of the cultureand diversity of the ’

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered communities herein‘

Vermont and elsewhere. f

Sandy Reeks

Jim Petrie

EDITORIAL poucv

We will consider for publication any material which broadens
ourmunderstanding of our lifestyles and of each other. Views

. and opinions appearing in the paper do not necessarily rep- I

resent those of Out in the Mountains. This paper cannot and
will not endorse any candidates or actions of public officials

on issues of importance to lesbians, gaymen, bisexuals, and -

transgendered persons. We reserve the right not'to_ publish
any material deemed to be overtly racist, sexistanti-Semitic,
ageist, classist, xenophobic, or homophobic. Writers’ guide-

‘ lines are available on request. All materials submitted must

include a name and a contact number. However, within the
pages of the newspaper, articles may appear anonymously
upon request, and strict confidentially will be observed.

Out in the Mountains lISSN l08l—5562) is published on the
last Thursday of each month by Mountain Pride Media, Inc.
It is printed by BD Press. The paper maintains offices at
39 Bridge Street in Richmond, Vermont.

The subscription rate is $23 per year
within the United States of America.
©2000, Out in the Mountains

Out in the Mountains
PO Box 1078
Richmond VT 05477-1078
TEL (802) 434-OITM
FAX (802) 434-7046
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Mountainpridemedia.org is updated to include the
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0/TM is available in alternative formats upon request.

All letters must be accompanied by a verifiable name
and address to be considered for publication. We will

withhold names from printing uponrequest. We
reserve the right to edit for space and clarity.

Send your letter to PO Box1078, Richmond, VT 05477,

or e-mail it to editor mountainpridemediaorg

The People Have Spoken

Bill H502: To repeal or not
to repeal, that is the question. I
believe that question has been
answered more than enough
times. The Sheltra/Flory fiasco
has tried to repeal the civil
union bill with much fanfare.
They have put aside crucial
issues to be discussed to have
their close-minded prejudices
become the forefront. I’m sure
that if anyone asked
Flory’s/Sheltra’s constituents if
the most important issues at
hand is repealing the civil
unions law or reevaluating Act
60, pushing ‘for cleaner
air/water, and school safety,
most would say that the latter
three would be the top vote
getters.

Also, wasn’t it this group

"who said last year to let the

people decide about civil
unions in November? With the
re-election of Governor Dean, I
think the people have spoken;
only for the Flory/Sheltra clan,
it wasn’t the answer they were
looking for.

Flory wants civil unions to
become reciprocal partnerships
so that they can be more inclu-
sive. However, if Flory would
open her eyes (and mind), she
would realize that no one has
requested reciprocal benefits
since it became available last
year. Yet, thousands of same-
sex couples jumped on board
to be civil unionized. If this is
such a powerful and true
Vermont yearning, wouldn’t
more people have gone to the
Department of Health to sign
up for this “privilege?” Flory
doesn’t want to open the doors
to other non-marrying couples,
but rather to demolish civil
unions completely.

One more thing: Should
civil unions be repealed, does
the Flory/Sheltra clan want the
state to be driven back into
numerous lengthy lawsuits,
which the taxpayers would
have to foot the bill for? My
guess would be no.

Dean Pratt
Burlington, VT

"News" item

I’m not a Vermonter (though
two nieces and a nephew grad-
uated from high school in
Montpelier), but I. live near the
border so I sometimes check
out your coverage

online. Obviously you’re
working on a shoestring, but
even so I’m shocked to see you
present as a “news” item a

press release from Rich Tafel I

and his Log Cabin
Republicans, under the parti-
san headline “House votes to
repeal anti-gay death tax.” You
have to be very richto feel the
pinch of the current estate tax,
and extremely rich to pay any-
thing under the Democrats’
reasonable proposal. The estate
tax prevents Bill Gates from
crowning his son king of the
U.S., even if the son is a good-
for-nothing who never works a
day in his life. How did George
W. get to be president if not for
the extreme wealth of his
father and friends?

It’s ironic that this bogus
“news” item should be pitched
to lesbians and gays in
Vermont, a low-income
state. The repeal of the estate
tax favored by rich
Republicans (some of them
gay, no doubt) would decimate
the programs that allow people
like myself to rise from the
lower economic classes. I was
born at home, not because it
was fashionable but because it
was cheap, during the Great (or
not-so-great) Depression. Even
so, some of the Roosevelt era
economics allowedmy family
to attain middle-class status
and allowed me to qualify for a
National Merit Scholarship,
Phi Beta Kappa, Ph.D., and all
that. ’

Do you really want a coun-
try in which rich people like
Vice President Cheney can
simply pass on all their wealth
to their heirs (even lesbian
ones) who didn’t earn a bit of
it? Or is better for us all to level
the playing field? It’s not a
death tax, by the way. Only liv-
ing people (very rich) have to
pay it.

Jim Humphreys
Leverett, MA

Local Author

This is a letter of congratu-
lations and thanks for your
continued great work in the
honesty of your writing and
reporting in Out in the
Mountains.

I’d like to add a brief word
about the author, Jane Bowles,
in Ernie Mcleod’s piece, Queer
Classics.

Jane Bowles had lived, on
and off, in East Montpelier,

 

where she worked on many of
her stories. Her wonderful,
Two Serious Ladies, was large-
ly written in East
Montpelier. Two Serious
Ladies was published in
1943. Jane Bowles lived with
her lover, Helvetia Perkins, at
Helvetia Perkins’s old brick
farm house. The general store
in East Montpelier is within
walking distance of Helvetia
Perkins’s brick farm house,
and I can imagine Jane Bowles
walking down the dirt road
hillside -to that same general
store, that was then also the
post office, in East Montpelier,
to get her mail.

With all thanks to you all at
Out in the Mountains.

Susan Weaver
Marshfield, VT

Compromise

As the superintendent men-
tioned in the April, 2001 arti-
cle, “Superintendent Takes
Action Against Outright
Vermont,” I would like to clear
up any false impressions that
might have been left with your
readers.

After teachers received my
memo, I met with the staff
involved. We had a very posi-
tive discussion and agreed that
we all had a common goal — to
provide a safe haven and a sup-
portive adult to speak to, for
students who were being
harassed, particularly because
of sexuality issues.

Both the staff and I felt a
compromise was in order. We
agreed that we would continue
to use the Outright Vermont
sticker, with the pink triangle,
since it was already posted and
students understood its sym-
bolism. The compromise was
the elimination of the Outright
Vermont name and informa-
tion. Outright Vermont was the
issue in our community, not
that we provide a safe and car-
ing environment for all our stu-
dents.

I recommended this com-
promise action to the school
board and they unanimously
agreed. They further supported
this decision at a later meeting
when the topic was raised
again. All staff members who
had agreed to the compromise
followed through on their part.
As we would treat any other
student request for informa-
tion, the staff would give
Outright’s telephone number

june 2oo1: _,-.5‘ 

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