1;-.~s.:._s .._ .:. _, . Dean Bids VT GLBTQs Goodbye, ForNow ermonters have not heard the last ol'Governor Howard Dean. Although he will leave ollice in .lanuar\'. earlv nc\'l Vyear he will announce his plan to seek the Democratic Part_v's presidential l]()l1lllldll0l] in 2004. His can Iy announce- , ment and active campaigning mean that Howard Dean is not going away any time soon. - .. Dean, a physician. has served as Vermont‘s Governor since I991. Prior to succeeding Gov. Richard Snelling. who died in office. Dean served as Lieutenant Governor and represented Burlington in Vcrmont‘s House of Representatives. As Governor. Dean has historically sided with Vermont‘s gay and lesbian community. He is credited with helping pass and ultimately signed into law legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation. lle also support- ed the extension of benefits to the domestic partners of Vermont State employees. In I994. I)ean appointed Bill Lippert. an openly gay] man. to till a vacant seat in the House of Representatives. As a result of Vermont‘s civil union law. The Aclvocate. a national gay newsmagazine. dubbed him the "Dean of Unions." I In a candid interview. Dean rellected on his tenure as Governor. his relationship with the gay community. and his upcoming Presidential campaign. $§&§.§l.. 33.55% EKTERVIEWS fififfifilbéfi fifiiffifiltéfifi ANQ Fifififiififibdffisfii E~§flPE§§.§l... RQWARQ DEAN OITM: You signed into law the Gay Rights / Bill, Hate Crimes, Adoption Reform including second parent adoption, and Civil Unions. Which of these accomplishments are you most proud of and why? Dean: I would say the civil unions bill because the opposition was so enormous and it was clearly the right thing to do. America has a long tradition of treating everybody equally under the law and I see that as a furtherance of that tradi- tion. OITM: You’ve become a bit of a rock star with the gay community nationally since signing the civil union law. Describe the reception you’ve received as you travel the country. Dean: It is very warm which you would hope for because I did stand up for this community. But most importantly I stood up for the ideals of the country. You can’t have a country that holds out the promise that America does unless every- one is included. And that’s really why I did this. OITM: In light of the makeup of the newly elected legislature, do you think that civil unions are a dead political issue in Vermont? Dean: Yes. I don’t think civil unions will be repealed or altered. OITM: What kind of Governor do you think (Gov.-elect) Treasurer Jim Douglas (R) will be when it comes to gay and lesbian issues? Have you discussed gay issues with him? Dean: We have not spoken about those issues. I think Jim is a fair-minded person. I think he’s a little concerned with the right wing of his party and the pressures they’ll put on him but I think Jim really i_s a true moderate. OITM: What’s next for Howard Dean? Dean: I’m running for President. I believe that for America to fulfill its promise to all its citi- zens it has to treat everyone the same way. That does not mean that, as President, I would require Alabama and Wyoming to have civil unions but it does mean that I expect everybody to be treat- ed equally under the law. They will have to find their way to doing that. I also believe that the federal government should recognize civil unions, which means that gay and lesbian people would have all the same legal rights as every- body else under the federal law as well as under the state law. OITM: How would federal recognition of state- sanctioned civil unions work? Could benefits like Social Security be provided in light of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)? Dean: I actually think that DOMA is unconstitu- tional because it is an infringement on the recip- rocal contracts clause of the U.S. Constitution but I guess a lawyer would have to answer that question. If the federal government recognized civil unions then gay and lesbian people would have the same rights as everybody else does under the law including immigration rights. OITM: But as President you couldn’t do that alone. Dean: No, you’d probably have to get the Congress to go along with it. OITM: Members of the Westboro Baptist Church and other antigay activists are unlikely to support your Presidential candidacy. Do you think they’ll begin to protest you as you campaign? Dean: [Laughs]. They may. Who knows? I can’t tell what’s in their minds. Sometimes I’m not sure they know what is in their minds. OITM: What role do you think civil unions and your support for gay rights will play in your presidential campaign? Dean: I think it will be very helpful in the Democratic Party primary and I think it will require the nation to begin to debate about appropriate rights for all citizens. In the general election, should I become the nominee, the President (Bush) will have to explain to America why everybody shouldn’t be treated equal when it says that in the Declaration of Independence. OITM: Your opposition to the legalization of medical marijuana angers some AIDS activists. What impact might that have on your support in the gay community? Dean: It will have some impact. My opposition to medical marijuana is based on science not based on ideology. I just don’t think you should single out a particular drug and use the political process to OK it when you use the scientific process to OK everything else. I will require the FDA to evaluate marijuana with a double blind study with the same kinds of scientific protocols that every other drug goes through. I’m willing to abide by what the FDA says. OITM: What is your position on President Clinton’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” gays in the military policy? . Dean: I think it is ridiculous. The military has a ton of gay and lesbian people in it and I think the military would be in serious trouble if all the gays and lesbians were kicked out. If somebody is willing to die for our country in Iraq or Afghanistan then it seems to me they should be able to say who they are. It is silly. The most important act in the campaign for human rights is the individual act of saying who you are. It is much more difficult for a decent American to discriminate against a co-worker or a friend who happens to be gay than it is to discriminate against some group they think they don’t know anything about. There are only two countries in NATO- Turkey and the United States- that don’t allow gays to serve openly in the military. I’m a an. .. .esbt:;'sEzg.v,' _iOt.'I’!‘i.$ll‘2'.’> 45'y0L'l3llLV.i big believer in people being who they are. OITM: Give me your first response to the fol- lowing: Civil unions. Dean: The ultimate achievement in equal rights under the law for all Americans. OITM: VCLGR co-liaison Keith Goslant. Dean: A wonderful human being who is a prag- matic, patient and courageous person. OITM: State Rep. Nancy Sheltra (R-Derby). Dean: Pass. OITM: Vermont. Dean: A wonderfully enlightened state with the same problems of every other state in the union but with an honesty and willingness to approach those‘ problems. OITM: President Dean. Dean: [Laughs]. Hopefully we’ll be talking about that after January 20, 2005. OITM: What final message do you have for Vermont’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community? Dean: My final message is thank you to the gay and lesbian community. We certainly haven’t agreed on everything but I really appreciate what all Vermonters, including gay and lesbian Vermonters, have done to support me over the last ll-I/2 years in the greatestjob in Vermont. I just want to thank all your readers. V (For more about Gov. Dean’s presidential cam- paign visit www.deanforamerica.com) Paul Olsen also writes for in newsweekly and lives in Colchester. Remembrance cont'd sion are protected under hate crimes provisions. Four states and the tion. can be -found at www.ntac.org/dona- ‘ the increase to be the result of better reporting and suspects that, sadly, organizer Eli Clare talked about how hate crimes function to make all peo- minology and incorrect pronoun usage as well as language that “blames the victim." Distinctions between sexual orientation and gen- der identity seem to be especially problematic. Gender identity includes an individual’s identity, appearance, or behavior regardless of whether or not they are different from those tradi- tionally associated with the individ- ual’s sex at birth. In both California and Vennont, gender identity and expres- District of Columbia include gender identity in their hate crime laws. The other two states are Minnesota and Missouri. NTAC, along with the Remembering Our Dead Project, has established a Bereavement Fund to assist the family and friends of Gwen “Lida” Araujo with costs associated with loss of a loved one. Funds will be turned over to a Memorial Fund established by the family in Araujo’s birth name: Eddie Araujo, Jr. Information for donating to the fund The Transgender Day of Remembrance began in San Francisco in response to the still unsolved murder of Rita Hester, a transgendered woman who was stabbed to death in her apartment on November 28, 1998. At that time, the Remembering Our Dead Project (which spawned the Day of Remembrance) discovered that an average of one person was reported murdered each month due to anti- " transgender violence. In 2002 this figure has doubled. Smith believes “There is a chance, perhaps a good one, that there are even more still out there that we are missing.” Back in Burlington, Lurie commented, “While I am pleased that people are responding in a heartfelt way, they really can’t help but be deeply affected by these stories. It could be us. It could be anybody. I’d like to see the respect and support for trans people grow into all areas of life, notjust around these terrible tragedies.” ' Trans activist and event ple in the group afraid. “The murder of trans people creates a knowledge ‘ within that we are all vulnerable,” Clare said. “The Day of Remembrance says ‘no’ to trans vio- — lence and gives us the opportunity to I express our grief and rage in commu- nity, instead of in isolation. It is a way of taking some of that vulnera- ' bility and creating an event that has the potential to change the world.” V