issues. They have supported the
activities and seek to become mem-
bers of both the Burlington Anti-War
and the Burlington Anti-Racism
coalitions. Promoting awareness of
queer issues in these movements
helps to ensure a bright future for
all Vennonters.

Finally, mark your calen-
dars now for the R.U.1.2? Annual
Dinner and Silent Auction, coming
up fast on April 19th. This year
marks the 20th year that Alison
Bechdel, author of “Dykes to Watch
Out For," has been publishing queer
cartoons. In an exciting develop-
ment, we look fowvard to welcoming
Alison as this year's R.U.1.2?
Annual Dinner keynote speaker. At
the dinner, she will look back on her
career and the changes in society
that her drawings have chronicled.
The event will also feature the tri-
umphant return to Vermont of a cer-
tain soul-pop drag queen and her
brand new plastic family  Stay‘
tuned for more info. . «

So stop and say hello to
the gang at their Headquarters in
the Vlfing Building at 1 Steele Street
in Burlington. There are a variety of
opportunities to help by volunteering
on one of the program or event
committees. Or drop them a note at
thecenter@ru12.org. They appreci-
ate all of your feedback.

Womynetplay Play Games
and More

Womynetplay, a program sponsored
by the R.U.1.2? Community Center,
strives to create social network
opportunities for queer womyn. We
meet every other Sunday during the
women's social group at R.U.1.2? to
plan upcoming events, hang out
and socialize. From discussions
generatedat the Women's Social,
Womynetplay organizes and plans
activities to.inc|ude on a monthly
calendar. Our scheduled activities
have included meeting to: attend
UVM Women's Basketball games,
ice skating, snow boarding, bowling,
discussion groups, dinners, First
Friday’s Womyn‘s dance, and
R.U.1.2?-sponsored events such as
Gayme Night, Book Club, Movie
Night, the.Coffeehouse and the
Women's Social.

Womynetplay seeks to
build a community of queer womyn
by connecting womyn with each
other, to Vermont resources and the
R.U.1.2? Community Center. We
invite women to attend our events,
bring their thoughts and ideas to
planning Womynetplay activities
and to enjoy the Vermont queer
community. For more information
about Womynetplay contact

commamisy compass

R.U.1.2? at (802) 660-7812.

Safespace I-las Outreach
Materials

Safespace currently offers services
to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgen-
der, queer, and questioning sur-
vivors of domestic violence, sexual
assault, and hate crimes. A vast
majority of violence that occurs
against and within the LGBTQQ
communities is never reported and
the survivors remain unsupported.
— We now offer brochures,
posters, and wallet size outreach
cards free of charge that promote
our programs and services. Please

1 contact us to find out how to make

our outreach materials available at
an agency or business you fre-
quent. ’

We are available to pres-
ent a variety of trainings and work-
shops that address violence in the
lives LGBTQQ people in your com-
munity free of charge. To order out-
reach materials please call Mike
Bensel at 802-863-0003 or email
Mike@SafeSpaceVT.org.

Winter Schmoozefest

Want to get rid of the winter blues?
Need a place to meet and interact
with a diverse group of gay/bisexu-
al/questioning/queer men in an ele-
gant atmosphere that is free of alco-
hol, smoke, and loud music? Up for
some delicious food, interesting art,
and delightful musical entertain-
ment? Well, you can have it all and
more at the “Winter Schmoozefest”
co-sponsored by the Men’s
Resource Center (MRC) of Western
Massachusetts and Tapestry Health
Systems. This will be the second of
four seasonal Schmoozefest events
that draw men from a wide geo-
graphical area. Some men come on
their own, some come with their sig-
nificant others, and some come with
their cluster of friends to make con-
nection with other GBQ guys for
socializing and just plain good
times. Our Autumn Schmoozefest
drew 86 men from six states!

Our Winter Schmoozefest
will have catered hors—d'oeuvres
and desserts, a cappuccino bar,
and a display of art by several area
GBQ artists. During a part of this
event there will also be a live musi-
cal performance. This is a great
opportunity to meet a lot of men
with common interests and to per-
haps make new friends or meet
men to date. it's also a great way to
find out about other venues for
meeting like-minded individuals and
about events and organizations that
draw GLBTQ people.

Advance tickets are $10
and can be purchased at: T.H.E.
Men’s Program in Brattleboro, VT;
World Eye Bookshop in Greenfield,
MA; Beyond Words Bookshop and
The GLBT Community Center, both
in Northampton; MA; Tapestry
Health Systems in Springfield, MA;
and the Men's Resource Center in
Amherst, MA. Tickets can also be
purchased at the door for $12; there
will be reduced fee tickets at the
door as well. If you are an artist,
who would like to have your art on
display at the gathering, call Carl
Erikson at the MRC (413-253-9887
x13) for information. While the art
will not be'on sale there, it is a 2
great way to have people become
familiar with local artists and to get
contact information for viewing or
purchasing art atother times. For
any other information about the
event, call Allan Arnaboldi, at the
number above '(x10) or email him at
aamaboldi@mensresourceoenter.org.

The Stonewall Center, the
LBGT Graduate Student‘
Organization, and the MRC will also
be co-sponsoring a performance of
the Kinsey Sicks, America‘s
Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop
Quartet, at 7 pm the same evening
at Bowker Auditorium, Stockbridge
Hall, at UMass, in Amherst. For
more information about that event
call (413) 545-4824. Why not have
a pleasure-filled day by attending
both events? We hope to see you at
the Garden House.

MPM: Old Archives, New
Raffle

This issue of Out In The Mountains

marks the start of our 17th year in
publication. In 2001 we launched
our OITM Online Archive project.
The goal of this project is to build a
complete online archive of all issues
of OITM. A core group of volunteers
has been busily working to make
this dream a reality. To date the
“Archive Team” has retyped 51
issues of O/TM and 32 have been
posted to the archive on our web
site. We continue to look for'funding
for this project as we still have
about 6 years (volumes) to go. If
you are interested in becoming part
of the Archive Team contact us at
mpm@mountainpridemedia.org.
During the reorganization

of the office hardcopy archive at the
O/TM office, we discovered that we
are missing some issues. if you
have a copy of any of the following
issues that you could donate to
O/TM to complete our office archive
we would be very grateful. The
missing issues are May 1988,
January 1989, February 1989 and

October 1996. issues can be mailed

to OITM — Attn: Archive Project —

POB 1078 — Richmond, VT 05477.
Looking to make some

extra money to pay off those holi-

.day bills? Consider becoming an

advertising rep for Out in The
Mountains. Just give us a call at
802-434-5237 or email us at

. ads@mountainpridemedia.org.

Each month, Mountain
Pride Media acknowledges the indi-
viduals who help get O_ut In The
Mountains out into the community
by coming to our monthly stuffing
night. This month we send out our
thanks to Roland, Tania, Euan,
James, Michael, Stephen, Paul,

“ Marsha, Daryl,‘ Riok."ba‘n, and

Susan. Our February “Stuffing”
night will be on Thursday, February
27th at our offices in Richmond
(above The Daily Bread) starting at
around 5 p.m. Please feel free to
join us.

We currently have two
routes that are in need of new distri-
bution volunteers: St. Albans and
Plattsburgh, NY. We are also look-
ing for couriers to deliver papers
throughout the state to our distribu-
tion volunteers. For more informa-
tion please contact us at circula-
tion@mountainpn'demedia.org or call
us at 802-434-6486. ‘

Have you entered
Mountain Pride Media's 2003 Think
Spring Raffle yet? Look for our ad
and entry form in this issue of O/TM
or download one from our web site.
Tickets are just $25 or five for $100;
only 300 will be sold. The prize
drawings will be held on the first
day of spring, March 21st. Get your
tickets today; like the snow, they
won't last much longer.

Pride VT Dinner-Plus

It's the heart of winter and the Pride
Vermont Committee is eagerly look-
ing ahead to the warmer months
and the month of June. The 21st
Annual Vermont Pride Parade and
Festival in downtown Burlington and
the Waterfront is set to take place
on Saturday, June 14th amidst a
month of celebrations and educa-
tional events.

This month Pride Vennont '

will be hosting a fundraiser in
Burlington to benefit the 30 Days of
Pride events held around the state

and the Waterfront Festival in June. _

On Friday, February 21st‘
join therjride Vennont Board and
commu ty members for an evening
of finecuisine and dancing. The
evening will kick off at 6 pm at
Parima Thai Restaurant, 185 Pearl
Street, Burlington with dinner being
served at 7 pm. The evening will

also include a silent auction with
many great gift packages available
for bidding. After dinner and the
auction, everyone is invited to move
down the street to 135 Pearl for a _
lovely night of dancing with dj Craig
Mitchell. Tickets for this fundraiser
will be $20 and include the dinner
and entry later to the club. For more
information on purchasing tickets,
please contact Brian Cina at (802)
859-9238 or log_onto wvvw.pridever-
mont.org through the internet,

OutRight Keepin’ On

2003 has kicked off in a serious
way. So many new faces here & &
just so much fun to be had! .BE-if.‘ 1.
sure to check out our always fabu-
lous website for the latest 8. great-
est info on us: www.outrightvt.org or
give us a ring at the office: 802-865-
9677. We hold true to our commit-
ment to educate Vermont on queer
youth issues while supporting & out-
reaching to youth around the state.
Our staff is available for workshops
& trainings on a variety of topics
relating to issues facing queer youth
in Vermont. For more information

‘contact BJ Rogers at Outright, (802)

865-9677. We also have the Cliff
Rivers Memorial library available for
additional information for youth &
their allies located here at our office
at 187 St. Paul St. All events at
Outright are FREE & Confidential
for youth ages 22 and under.

Lights. Curtain, Theatre on
a Shoestring Auditions!

Theatre on a Shoestring, a local
non—profit theatre company, will hold
auditions for Same Time, Another
Year and Crazy and a Half
Wednesday - Friday, February 26-
28 from 7-9PM in the Merlin Suite
at the University Inn and Suites in
South Burlington. We are looking for
a large range of actors in age and
experience. Productions are set for
late May and early June. For details
on characters and audition times,
check out TOAS’ website at
www.theatreshoe.com. Download
an audition form online and bring it
with you completed with a photo to
the auditions to save time, if possi-
ble. If you would like more informa-
tion, contact TOAS toll free at 888-
212-5884 (*3, if no answer). V