Queer Summits: BY EUAN BEAR ollowing the fifth Queer Summit, Fits worth taking a look at their history and what the summits have accomplished. The first Queer Summit was held in May, 2002 in the community function room of the Burlington sewage treatment plant. A controversy arose over whether the working gay press (i.e., OITM editor Euan Bear) was allowed to take notes and quote partici- pants on the record. The purpose was networking and sharing both strengths and challenges with an eye toward pool- ing skills and resources whenever possi- ble. Some of the strongest needs articu- lated were fundraising, board recruit- ment and retention, and volunteer recruitment. _ Q.S2 was also held in Birli9st9m.§n.Avsist at the Flasher Free Library, with a long list of organi- zations (two dozen) sending representa- tives. A significant portion of the morn- ing was spent discussing the upcoming elections, with the afiemoon sessions more organization-centered: board and volunteer recruitrnent/retention; anti- oppressionl working to end oppression in our own groups; fundraising efforts; and outreach for rural organizing. QS3 had 16 groups repre- sented at its January, 2003, meeting in South Royalton at the Vermont Law School, with some people wearing more than one hat. Its purpose was “To bring together queer and ally community activists/organizations for networking to familiarize ourselves with each others work. to create understanding of com- mon issues and strategies, and to build an effective queer movement in Vermont." After a legislative preview, courtesy of Equality Vermont, issues included rural organizing; anti-oppres- sion/anti-racism work; transgender issues; and fundraising. . The fourth Queer Summit, hosted by Rep. Bill Lippert at the State , House in Montpelier last May, drew representatives of a dozen organiza- tions. Afier organizational updates and a legislative overview, the major presen- tations were on trans issues — with a review of oppression, legal status, and potential strategies to achieve equality (or at least make discrimination illegal) — and the Unity Project, which will be funneling $240,000 into Vermont lgbtq organizations. ' Queer Summit 5, back in » Burlington last month, generated con- troversy even before it met. Lluvia A Longer Look Mulvaney-Stanak emailed theiQueer Summit online listserve to express her frustration with long meetings that seem to accomplish so little. “I am always eager to have these summits be effective in network- ing & building a stronger queer commu- nity among all the Vermont organiza- tions that attend,” Mulvaney-Stanak wrote. “With this upcoming meeting, it looks as though most of this will be confined to the 3 [-minute] reports & lunch time.” Further, she wrote, “I think it is fantastic that we are looking at the issues of race within our community, _ but expecting to effectively explore this large social issue and connect it with preexisting and potential work that we must do here in Vermont in 40 minute & 90 minute chunks is a bit ambitious." Mulvaney-Stanak, who works with Outright Vermont as a pro- gram specialigt and with the Diversity Health Projeé’tT';‘i facilitated‘ the previous summit’s discussion of trans issues. “I wrote that to express my overall frustration with ‘being in a queer community in a rural state — that there’s so little measurable outcome," Mulvaney-Stanak said in a phone inter- view. She is a native Vermonter (born in Barre), she said, and she sees the rural nature of the state and the gay commu- . nity’s Burlington-centered focus as obstacles to statewide action. “I’m frus- trated with people just accepting the sta- tus quo.” V The Queer Summits she has attended, she said, have been “heavy on process and light on action.” And, she noted, there has been “no follow-up on the last mecting’s steps” with regard to extending outreach to rural lgbtq peo- ple, especially to trans folk. V “If you triage the situation," Mulvaney-Stanak said, “the number one problem is that organizations don’t have any idea that other groups are out there. We shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel. When we’re there [at the meet- ing], we feel like one large community, but then we go back to our own little bubbles.” Racism, she suggested, is “okay” as a community topic for discus- sion and concern, “but why not clas- sism? That’s where the most oppression is in Vennont. What about ageism? Where are the youth on boards? Where are they in the decision-making process, especially on the HIV-/AIDS organiza- tions? Look at the statistics of who is getting infected.” Mulvaney-Stanak flatly stat- ed, “No youth in their right mind would attend a meeting that’s six hours long on a Saturday. Program specialists like me are obligated to go.” She appreciates, she said, the effort and coordination provided by R.U.1.2? to make the summits happen, but she questions “who’s setting the agenda?” “The agendas,” responded R.U. l .2? Queer Community Center Director Christopher Kaufman, “are created by the Queer Summit. We’ve been working from the third Queer Summit, which identified four topics of concern: fundraising, rural organizing, antiracism, and transgender awareness and support.” A review of summit notes showed that a constantly recurring topic is finding and keeping volunteers, espe- cially board members. Asked how organizations could consider taking on other tasks when their structures are not stable, Kaufman acknowledged the dif- ficulty.' “The next [topic] up is rural ‘ organizing,”-he‘ said, “which might cover board retention and other organi— . zational issues. We are so spread out, and the question becomes how do you get people involved? How do you work so that people don’t feel left out by the fact that so mucliZ‘is)1,a1'5;.1énin'g",‘in‘one part of the state? We just don’t have the population base to draw on, unlike organizations in the big cities in other states,” Kaufman concluded. » Two ideas that have come up at Summits but have yet to receive any attention are creating a database of cur- rent board members among community nonprofits and holding a “Volunteer Fair” to recruit volunteers. Kaufman suggested that a Volunteer Fair might happen at another event, such as R.U.1.2?’s annual fundraising dinner. Another frequent member of -the Summits is Kris Rowley, a.k.a. Baron Kristotf of the Barony of All Vermont. She sees the Summits’ major- contribution‘ as making connections that didn’t exist before among disparate organizations. “For the Barony, the summits have been very valuable. I am not sure we use them the same way other organi- zations do since our function is very different fiom most others. We raise money to give away; they raise money to sustain themselves,” Rowley explains. “The summits have put us in touch with many organizations in the state that we might not have known exist. Also, it has helped us tremendous- ly to get our name outinto the commu- nity, to let people know that we are ‘for’ real,’ and to hopefirlly help us with membership. The measure of our suc- cess or failure is in the amounts of money we raise and give away each year, not on how much we raise to have in our bank account.” The next summit is sched- uled for January, so stay tuned. V We frame old maga- zines, movie posters, old ads, theater & concert programs & tickets, record albums. baseball cards, buttons, autographs... Does history hide in your bureau drawer? if you have a collection of interesting stuff from days gone by. don’t hide it. Frame Our certified framers will preserve your valuable ephemera in archival ’ frames for permanent enjoyment. Benea Frankli w»*>°lP" erwfifv erg t£‘frmn5“g,) COUNSELING CENTER OF NORTHERN VERMONT Psrcuornsmr FOR INDIVIDUALS, Commas, FAMILIES - Coming Out V 0 Sexual Identity - Life Transitions Separations 0 Endings/Loss “ Bill McBroom ucsw 802.229.5220 Lynn Goyette LCMHC. 802.860.6360 BURLINGTON iMONTPELlER ‘ Buying or selling a home? Because our team is dedicated to provid- ing the best possible service to all people, we are proud of our ties to the GLBT community. Specializing in Addison County .langteam.com Geor e Brewer WW" RQEALTOR, (802) 388-1000 cas, GRI, cne, ABR Iangmldd@sover.net Susan McKenzie MS.‘ Jungian Psychoanalyst Licensed Psychologist -— Master Specializing in issues of Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgendered individuals and couples Quechee — White River Junction (802) 295-5533 insurance Accepted