Appreciation

I’ve never written to the editor before but I feel
compelled after reading this month’s issue of Out

' In The Mountains. The [November] “Editor's

Notebook” made reference to someone who is
obviously not happy with the changes that have
occurred since you have become editor.

I, for one, would like to add my two
cents to the mix and comment that I have never
enjoyed reading OITM more than I do now. The
content is much improved, and I find it to be a
“class act” now rather than an embarrassment. You
and your staffobviously put a lot of time and
effort into producing this newspaper and I am
truly grateful for your efforts andicommend you
on the quality of this publication. In my opinion. it
has greatly improved!!!

With appreciation,
Bunny Lavoie
Windsor, VT

Child Abuse by Priests

I am writing to respond to recent stories in the _
press about the investigations of Vermont Catholic
priests for “sexual misconduct”, or more directly,
child sexual abuse. I specifically want to comment
on the situation with a priest in Vergennes who .

   

resigned because of his “affair” with a young man.
In a letter to his parish, the priest apologizes for
violating his vow of celibacy, not for sexually
abusing a youth. He also states that the young man
“had been sexually active (not with me) from his
early teen years and had several other ongoing
liaisons during the period that we knew each
other,” implying that the youth’s sexual activity
and history justified his taking advantage of his
position of power to abuse the youth. ’

It is irrelevant how much sex a person
has or had before being abused. A priest in his 60s
abusing the power and influence of his position by
having a sexual relationship with a young teenager
is wrong, and should be illegal. The youth was not
at fault for what happened to him. Priests who
sexually abuse youth should not only be removed
from their parishes, but from the priesthood, and
should not be rewarded with retirement packages.
What is the youth rewarded with, but scars from
an abusive relationship that will take a long time
to heal from.

It is not uncommon for an abuser to try
to shift the blame and responsibility for their
actions to the victim. Victim blaming is all too
common in our society that condones abuse and
violence everyday. Institutions of power like the
Catholic Church and the State of Vermont’s
Attorney General’s Ofiice should hold perpetrators
accountable to prevent such abuses from continu-
ing to occur. Now that the silence has been bro-

 

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ken, we all must hold each other accountable to
bring justice to young victims of sexual abuse of
priests.

Kara DeLeonardis, MSW
SafeSpace Executive Director

SafeSpace is a social change and social service
organization working to end physical, sexual, and
emotional violence in the lives of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning
(LGBTQQ) Vermonters.

Respect: Insist on It

Marshall's in Williston was an exciting new dis-
count store coming to the area, arriving just in
time as Ames was closing all oftheir stores.
However, Marshall's is no bargain when it comes
to the handling of its employees or customers.

First of all, there have been more than
30 people who have quit —— 6 the day before the
store opened — because the manager is belittling
and belligerent towards them, even in front of cus-
tomers. She has also been rude to customers,
including myself. All of this in less than a month
of the store’s opening.

Employees have contacted corporate
offices because they were told that the company
has an open door policy when it comes to com-

 

letters

plaints. However, instead of correcting the prob-
lems, the manager was infomied of the com-
plaints, reprimanded the employees, and made
their stay at the store miserable. So much so that
they would eventually quit.

More and more employees are quitting
because of the manager and more and more cus-
tomers are exercising their rights and complaining,
too. However, corporate has done absolutely noth-
ing to correct these problems. I speak from per-
sonal experience. When contacting corporate
headquarters to complain, I was thanked for the
call and that was it. -

I encourage all ofthose individuals who
have been treated poorly by Marshall's to contact
corporate offices and demand justice by calling
888-627-7425, the regional manager at 781-273-
4694, or emailing them directly at
MarshallsCustomerScrvicc@tjx.com. Tell them
you refuse to shop in the store until major changes
are made. It seems like this is the only way they
are going to listen.

Vermonters. both employees and cus-
tomers of retail establishments, should be treated
with respect. Marshall’s doesn't seem to believe in
this.

Dean Pratt
Burlington, VT

Life Sustaining
Economy
Take: Roar

  

 

ment agency, was not encouraging
and not much help, she said, but
would consider her complaint ifa
specific student was involved.

heiBarre City School Board says ,
it needs “to just study” whether a

I school teacher may display a

“SafeZone” card in the window of
her classroom door. And until it is
done “studying,“ the card may not be
replaced.

Rachael Erickson, a middle
school art teacher, is fighting for the
right to put the card back on her door
after it was removed by community
member David Ayers, possibly fol-
lowing a public meeting he attended
at the school. The card indicates to
students having questions or prob-
lems dealing with their sexual identi-
ty that Erickson is a “safe“ person to
talk to and that Erickson’s classroom
is a place where harassment will not
be tolerated.

Ayers objected to the card,

according to news reports and to
Erickson, because it shows a pink tri-
angle (new ones show a rainbow) and
is associated with Outright Vermont,
an organization that supports diversi-
ty and harassment-free schools. Ayers
admitted stealing the card and sug-
gested that he was entitled to do so as
a taxpaying member of the
community.

Accompanied by Steve
Cable, founder of the now defunct
anti-civil union organization “Who
Would’ve Thought” and currently
CEO of the Rutland-based “Center
for American Cultural Renewal,”
Ayers appeared at the school board
meeting to object to Erickson’s
request to replace the card.

Cable warned the board
that displaying the card “legally con-

nects the school to Outright Vermont
and what they teach,” according to a
report in the Barre-Montpelier Times
Argus.

Erickson, in her second
year of full time teaching, cited daily
harassment she hears in the hallways.
“The most frequent harassment is
sexual,” she said in an interview,
“and most of the sexual harassment is
anti-gay — calling someone a fag,
saying of something negative ‘that’s
so gay.’” ‘ i .
She originally looked for
the card at the Youth Services
Bureau, which redirected her to
Outright Vermont’s offices. “All it
says is ‘Safe Zone’ with the Outright
Vermont website and phone number
in very small letters,” Erickson said.

The card with which she

had planned to replace it is “a generic
‘Safe Space’ sign from UVM,”
Erickson explained. “I can’t believe
the school board is saying I can’t put
up a sign saying my classroom is safe
space.”

Erickson is considering fil-
ing a formal harassment charge
against David Ayers for stealing the
card. “When I called the big organi-
zations — GLAAD, HRC, Lambda
Legal — they all said, ‘Call usback
when you’re fired.” GLAAD is the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against
Defamation. HRC is the Human
Rights Campaign. She said GLESN
(the Gay, Lesbian and Straight
Education Network) had been help-
ful.

The Human Rights I
Commission of Vermont, a govern-

Erickson is a nationally
juriedartist who has worked on pub-
lic murals in several inner cities. She
said she teaches four age groups in
the K-8 school, fifth graders through
eighth graders. She was discouraged
from explaining the situation to any
of her students, she said, although
she has answered questions from
older students who ask.

Currently. Erickson has
placed a large sign on her door quot-
ing Vermont law on harassment in
schools as a replacement for the
‘Safe Zone’ card that was stolen by
Ayers and ‘Safe Space’ c_ard she tried

‘to post in its stead.

“This is about civil rights,"
Erickson declared, “not sex or moral-
ity. “Kids need to be safe, regardless
of who they are.” V