i-"3-’OITl‘1 june~2o01'. .

Featuring . . .

DJ Little B/Iartlrfi

Gregory Douglass
Pride Parade A

12 noon Karen Grenier

Doors Open 3 prn

Jason Blovv

Tent Pa"tY 6 Pm $8‘ 21+ w/ID

Dance Party 10 pm

Don't rnlss Zoe Levvls - Friday. June 15

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802.863.2343 Wm/w.135pearl.<:om

Celebrate PRIDE 2001 with Zoe‘! 

J4 ‘P-towiit favorite :1”

Zoe Lewis, and her

more Letters

and website to any student who
requested it.

While I realize that many
will see this action as a sell-out
of Outright Vermont, I do not
agree. In our case, the school
district has a neutral stance
regarding Outright Vermont. It
does not encourage, nor does it
discourage, participation in the
organization. The board does
have a responsibility to insure
the welfare of all of its students
and has not abandoned that
responsibility.’

Walter J. Goetz
Interim Superintendent
Poultney, VT

Bad for. ..

If you printed “House Votes
to Repeal Anti-Gay Death Tax”
in order to provoke some dis-
cussion or some strong feel-
ings, you’ve been effective!

HR 8, the House bill that
repeals the estate tax over 10
years is bad for democracy, bad
for our economy, and bad for

 inhilantlmrmw... The-v»-fact —th-at A

individuals, gay or straight,
may personally benefit from
repeal of the estate tax does not
mitigate the injustice this bill
creates. It is the very reason the
bill is unjust.

Repeal of the estate tax
would benefit the wealthiest
2% in the country, at the
expense of the other 98% of
Americans. The billions of dol-
lars that are lost to repeal
would have to be made up by
increasing taxes on those less
able to pay. If our tax-phobic
Republican administration
failed to raise those lost tax
dollars, then government pro-
grams would be cut. Social
Security, Medicare, education,
the arts; these programs, not
military expenditures, would
be the victims of repeal.

Taxes and philanthropy, at
their best, promote democracy
by preventing over-concentra-
tions of wealth and poverty.
Eliminating the estate tax
would have a double negative
effect. In addition to the lost
tax dollars, eliminating the
estate tax would have a devas-
tating impact on charitable
bequests. The threat of the
estate ~ tax motivates ~wealthy

  Rubber Band, H
       

people to consider, beyond
their own self-interest, what
has meaning for them.

And this consideration
results in support of charitable
organizations and foundations
through bequests. The US
Treasury estimates repeal of
the estate tax could result in a
loss of upwards of $5 billion
dollars in charitable giving.
Foundations, like our own
Samara Foundation of
Vermont, are the beneficiaries
of approximately one-third of
those bequests.

Log Cabin Republicans’
argument that the estate tax
discriminates against gay and
lesbian couples is true. It also
discriminates against single
people, regardless of sexual
orientation. The estate tax
exclusion level may be too low.
And family farms and small
businesses may require special
clauses to preclude total loss of
these assets by the families that
have built them.

These are reasons to reform
the estate tax law, not to repeal
it. As GLBT people, we can
choose to throw our lot in with
those who are only for them-

selves,» or we can elevate our-

selves, politically and econom-
ically, by working for justice
and fairness. Where will you
stand?

Linda Markin

Hardwick, VT

President,
Foundation of Vermont

Samara

Civil Unions

Well, a year has passed after
the Civil Union law passed.
After careful scrutiny of all the
divorce decrees in the state for
the past year, I have yet to see
a single heterosexual marriage

that has failed due to the law. V

This directly contradicts one of
the dire consequences the reli-
gious bigots were screaming
would happen if this passed. I
also have yet to see the throngs
of gay people invading every
comer of the state from the rest
of the world. '

Right wing republicans are
now trying to force a repeal on
the grounds that it needs to
include more people. The
reciprocal beneficiaries part of

the law covers this but has not
been used. Blood relatives
already have had these protec-

tions in law. That wouldn’t be a ,
pack of lies they were using in i

order to deny citizen’s equal

rights would it?? Why don’t ‘

these people admit they are try-
ing to shove their religious
views down everyone’s throat
and get on with it. We have
more pressing concerns that
some of our representatives
should be addressing, but all
that they seem to have is sex on
the brain.

Steven Board
Roxbury, VT