A Modest Proposal

Since you’ve taken over as editor of Out in the
Mountains it seems the content of the paper has
steadily become more and more lesbian orient-
ed. I counted at least 12 of the articles in the
current February issue as written by lesbians, a
number of them written by yourself.

This is hardly a bad thing — it simply
adds fuel to the fire of my insistence that it’s
way past time to have an all-lesbian publication
— either a newspaper or magazine — which
would forever eliminate the vain attempts of
present mags like The Advocate to be both gay
male, lesbian, and transgender oriented. I’m
speaking now, of course, of the publications
distributed nationally.

In our own local case, I feel it’s time
"to at least divide your newspaper into three sec-
tions — perhaps the first devoted to lesbian
interest, the second to male gay interest, and the
third to news, events, ads, etc. which are non-
gender-specific. For instance, a comic strip like
Dykes to Watch Out For would decidedly go
into the lesbian interest section, while anything
like Curbside would be printed for gay males. .
Both sections should be as equal as possible,
with neither side predominant. I think you’d
probably get more contributions of both sexes if
you did this. I know that I for one would cer-

tainly take more interest in the publication.

The majority. of gay males have no
interest in women or women’s affairs, whether
lesbian or not. Likewise I’m sure lesbians have
little interest in the gaymale, other than the
standpoint of us all being ‘gay.’ So why subject
yourself to the other? As a person, you’re cer-
tainly a delight to know (I’ve met you, altho I
hardly expect you to remember) but the news-
paper for which you’re responsible isn’t read
for the content of what primarily interests you
alone.iPlease try my suggestion.

Alan Curtis
Morrisville

Thanks for your gracious note and thoughtful
suggestion, Alan (of course I remember you —
you sent me a copy of your book after we talked
at a volunteer stufling night).

l The thing I noticed about the
February issue was that the entire arts section
was written by men. The last nine Spiritual
Essence columnshave been written by men.

We — Mountain Pride Media and
OITM — exist to develop and strengthen the
community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgen-
der and questioning (GLBTQ) Vermonters,
through the development and maintenance of
communications vehicles. That goal would not
be accomplished by some sort of ‘separate but
equal'treatment in the paper. Not to mention
the difficulties of assigning articles to one sec-
tion or another: By writer is gender? By article
content? And where would we put potential '
articles by transgender writers? Should I not
have written the article on the Barre shelter
being open to men because I 'm a lesbian and
its a male issue?

One of my goals is to promote under-
standing and coalition-building among seg-
ments of our communities by including a
diverse collection of topics and writers. I try to
balance gender-specific interest as much as
possible. Any individual issue of OITM might
show that distribution tipped slightly one way
or the other, but I hope it all equals out over a
year ’s time.

And, finally, 0fC0ltt‘S£',‘ there Is‘ the vol-
unteerfactoi: A ll the-writers are volunteers, so
the content ofany issue depends on who is will-
ing to write, given the demands ofa paying job
and family anchor" social life. I send out an
email to writers and other contributors at the
beginning of the month listing stories I 'm aware
“fond soliciting input,/or otltur ideas and inter-
ests. ll"'hen I think an event or issm’ is too
i’".Dortant to be o/'plmnctt'. l entail specrfiic writ-
?” I0 ask iftliey will told’ it on. l_/Lwl ltonorerl

and privileged that OITM receives such quality
work from articulate, entertaining contributors
of any gender
‘ So, unless there is an overwhelming

outpouring of support in letters and emails for
your proposal, Alan, I think we are unlikely any
time soon to have a community paper divided
into the ladies ’ pages and the gents ‘pages. —_
EB

Another Survivor Resource
Last fall, OITM published my review of
Leaping Upon the Mountains by Mike Lew, a
book for male survivors of childhood sexual
abuse. At that time we listed some local thera-
pists that work with male survivors but strug-
gled to find other support groups for survivors.

I recently spoke to a friend in Boston
who informed me that there is a new(ish) group
of mixed-gender survivors meeting in
Montpelier and I thought 0ITM’s readers
should know about this resource. Survivors of
Incest Anonymous meets weekly at the UCC
Bethany Church on Main Street in downtown
Montpelier (on the right, just past Ben &
Jerry’s as you travel up [east on] Main Street
from Route 2).

Meetings are Mondays from 6:00-
7:00 pm in the Blue Door Room. Call 229-2153
or 454-7822 for more info. The person Italked
to at the info number was very helpful, assured
me that meetings are GLBTQ friendly and
encouraged me to send this announcement to
Out In The Mountains. She-said the group is
small, usually three to five people, and they
would welcome new members at any time.

Survivors of Incest Anonymous is a
twelve-step program. Their website defines
incest very broadly as childhood sexual abuse
by a family member, or close family friend or
acquaintance, including clergy or other “help-
ing” professionals. The SIA website has links to
other meetings and support, www.siawso.org.

Christopher Kaufman -
Executive Director
R.U.l .2? Community Center

A Question of Civil Rights
Wow. I cannot believe how D; Scott-Bush
trashed Israel in his January 2003 “All Hail the
Power” column. He wrote about a trip he took
to the Middle East a few years ago — about the
“cheerful greetings and marvelous hospitality”,
he received in Egypt, how the Palestinians
“treated us like old friends,” and how the
Israelis “were so rude.” He then went on to say
that“  it’s a question of civil rights. Bragging
about our good works may help ensure that we
keep those rights and get the others we
deserve.” I

To me, his two themes represented a
‘total non-sequitur. How can he denigrate Israel
for two-thirds of his article, and then write that
“it’s a question of civil rights”? Of the three
political entities he mentioned, only Israel
assures equal civil rights for its non-heterosexu-
al residents. The International Gay & Lesbian
Human Rights Commission reports that Israeli
law specifies that “l. Homosexual activity is
legal, the age of sexual consent is 16 for all.
Also exempts consensual homosexual sex
involving youths aged 14 and 15 from prosecu-
tion, as long as the age difference between the
partners is no more than three years. 2. Allows
homosexuals in its military. 3. Has a national

gay rights law that bans some anti-gay discrimi- _

nation, including employment. 4. The Civil
Service Commission extends spousal benefits
and pensions to the partners of homosexual
employees.”

On the other hand, the Commission
reports that “Egyptian law does not explicitly
refer to homosexuality, but a wide range of
laws covering obscenity and public morality are
punishable byjail terms. Contempt of religion

(falsely interpreting the Koran and exploiting
Islam to promote deviant ideas) is punishable
by up to five years in jail. Immoral behavior
(debauchery offense) is punishable by up to a
maximum sentence of three years in jail.”

In fact, wasn’t it this very paper that
recently reported about a 16-year-old Egyptian
boy who was sentenced in September 2002 to
three years of prison for homosexuality?! And
just this past summer, Amnesty International
reported on 50 men being tried in Egypt for
criminal “habitual debauchery” because of con-
sensual, private sexual relations with men. The
organization called on Egypt “to release imme-
diately and unconditionally anyone imprisoned
solely for their perceived or actual sexual orien-
tation.”

OK, how about those friendly
Palestinians? According to Davi Bernstein, a
senior at Yale College, “Chatting with a 21- ‘
year-old Palestinian man in a gay bar in Tel
Aviv was the most interesting moment of my
summer vacation.  The New Republic, in its
Aug. 19 issue, exposed hideous human rights

. violations by the Palestinian Authority, which

employs special police squads to capture men
who have sex with each other. The lucky ones
are forced to stand in sewage water up to their
necks or lie in dark cells infested with insects;
others are simply starved to death. These horrif-
ic crimes have motivated hundreds of‘
Palestinian homosexuals to flee to Israel” from
Palestinian-controlled areas. “If any gay soli-
darity exists, it must be to defend the nations
that permit us to live and denounce the regimes
that do not. When so many around-us are delib-
erately misunderstanding the reality of the
Middle East, we must be honest and state clear-
ly that Israel is the only country in the region
that tolerates our existence.”

Hmmm. Makes me wonder what kind
of reception D. and his “friend” Martin might
have received if they had been perceived as gay
men in Egypt or in areas governed by the
Palestinian Authority. I wholeheartedly agree
with him that it is “a question.of civil rights.”
Given the choice, I know that I would rather be
legally protected than superficially welcomed
as a friend when traveling or living in an area.

S. Kasten
[Town withheld by request]

NUSI Checks In

The Northwest Unit for Special Investigations
(“NUSI”) is a multi-disciplinary task force cre-
ated to conduct criminal investigations an pro-
vide victim services in response to reports of
child or adult sexual abuse. The police officers,
victims advocates, nurse examiners, prosecu-
tors, therapists and support staff that work with
the NUSI unit offer their special training which
includes working with the gay/lesbian commu-
nity in a sensitive, objective manner. The
expertise ofiered by this unit protects all vic-
tims of sexual-assault and hold[s] offenders
accountable. We investigated more than 240
cases last year. In addition to improving the
quality and timeliness of each sexual assault
investigation, we strive to reduce further trauma
to all victims regardless of their sexual orienta-
tion. This is done by offering support services
on site to victims and their families.

Calling the police after being sexually
assaulted can be extremely difficult, particularly
if it is a same sex assault and your confidence
in an appropriate, respectful police response is
unsure. NUSI is here to serve all victims of sex-
ual assault in Franklin and Grand Isle counties.

Detective Trooper Ingrid Jonas
Northwest Unit for Special Investigations
St. Albans

Editor's Notebook

Just a little housekeeping: Somewhere along the
line afriend of0lTM's noticed that we can't
count, or maybe we can count, but we were so
fascinated with the glbtq scene in Vermont, we
forgot to change volume numbers. I think we
currently have two volumes marked /6 (or
XVI). We progressed to volume [7 on schedule
with last month is issue, but it should have been
volume /8. The current issue is Volume /8,
number 2. Just for all those record-keeping
gremlins. ’

And a sad note: Les B. Frank has decided to
put his advice column "Ask Mr: Frank" on hia-
tus for the foreseeable future. Last issue he
thought it would be a short break, but it has
turned into a more-or-less permanent vacation
from dealing with the problems of the queer
world.

Pssr... Lookéo
3/tax Rfictréfgf?

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