safety Patrol Thanks

On behalf of the staff at Safespace,
I’d like to extend my thanks to Euan
Bear for the wonderful article about
the services and support our agency
provides to LGBTQQ survivors of
violence.

I would like to echo
Euan‘s words that lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer and
questioning lives count. Our experi-
ences, struggles, and celebrations
mark a rich history. This social and
political history reflects our strug-
gles for equality, justice and the
right to be treated as human. This
history is a path of continual inclu-
sion and exclusion.

As a young Queer person I
am proud to be part ofxa community
that has accomplished so much and
made it possible for me to come out
and be part of something bigger.
SafeSpace ‘came out’ because of the
dedication and hard work of

activists who realized that LGBTQQ
people deserve the same support and
advocacy that has been available to
heterosexual and women’s commu-
nities for so many years. There is
much more work to be done and
many more alliances to build with
other social justice groups-- and this
work is necessary for our movement
to expand, welcome more allies and
ensure that all of us can live without
fear of violence and discrimination.
I am confident that SafeSpace will
continue to play an instrumental part
in expanding and challenging
Vermont’s response to and education
about violence to be ever-more
inclusive.

SafeSpace services are
available to people of all ages,
statewide, and are free and confi-
dential. We encourage you to call
us.( toll-free at 866-869-7341 or
802-863-0003 around Burlington) V
with any questions about our work,
if you are interested in scheduling a

out in the mountains

training for your group or want to
volunteer your time.

Clark Sheldon
SafeSpace Youth Program
Coordinator

Thank you for your balanced report-
ing in this story [Safety Patrol,
October 2004]. You have helped get
rid of some old harmful myths and
aided your community's progress.
I'm sure this will be appreciated by
your local residents.

You may be interested in
my DVAZOO4 Media Recon Project
at my website. I'm tracking media
nationwide in hopes of finding sto-
ries of this kind.

More information is here:
desertlightjoumal.blog-city.com/.

Trudy W. Schuett
via the Internet

 

Define Feminist

I like Anne Moore’s writing - it’s
fresh and she’s observant. Or maybe
it’s the other way around 

What I don’t get is what’s
‘feminist’ about it. In “Mean Girls”
(Culture Vulture, October 2004),
Moore relishes the camera that pans
longingly in slo-mo over the body of
a young and apparently luscious
actress playing a high school girl
and then rejoices because the cam-
era represents two other high school
girls and a gay boy, a group of out-
siders. So what is it that makes the
objectification and commodification
of a woman’s body okay when it’s
done by other women instead of by
men? In my kind of feminism, it’s
equally dehumanizing either way.

Maybe there‘s room for
some discussion of the (still) differ-
ing power dynamic among women
as opposed to between men and
women, and that’s what makes it

letters

okay - at least for Moore. But let’s
be careful about throwing around
the label feminist when the analysis
falls way short, eh?

Jane L. Allison
St. Johnsbury

Correction: Due to an editing
error, Paul OIsen’s degree was
incorrectly identified in his taglinc.
He recently earned a doctorate in
education (Ed.D.), not a Ph.D. V

 

BY GL0 DALEY

With typical firm grace and clear-
eyed strength, Ginny Clarke passed
over into death in the early mom-
ing hours of October llth. She was
72. For many years Ginny lived
with and worked with Parkinson’s
disease which took an increasingly
greater toll on her body.

Several months ago I vis-
ited her in Underhill where she had
been living with her daughter
Chris. I hadn’t seen her in a while
and, to my eyes, she appeared to
be quite weak physically and suf-
fering substantial discomfort. I
asked her, “How is life being for
you?” assuming I would hear of
the many difficulties she was cop-
ing with every day. Her eyes grew
bright and she said, “Oh G10, I am
loving every day!” Then, as I had
seen her do before, she broke into
a poem, this one about the
grandeur of trees, reciting it in its
entirety.

A Sagittarius, Ginny was
an enthusiastic seeker of meaning

In Memorm: Ginny Clarke

 

and truth. She shared with me, on
that occasion, her excitement about
the work of EckhardtTol1e.
Jeanette Andrew, with whom she
had a long, deep and abiding love,
had introduced her to Tolle’s The
Power of Now, and now she want-
ed to introduce me. She was clear-
ly in the present as we sat in her
back yard. She had been meditat-
ing and spoke of wanting to find
an instructor. As she looked about
her, she seemed to be in love with
the trees, the flitting birds and the
movement of her grand child.

" group that met to discuss and con-

ease, she courageously chose to let

For some time Ginny had
been a main force behind a small

template any and all issues of liv-
ing and dying. She spoke of how
much benefit and support she’d
been deriving from being in the
group.

Thinking back, I remem-
ber Ginny as a proficient yoga
teacher and a strong cross country
skier. She invited me to join her
one winter day and though I was
ten years younger, I was unable to
keep up with her amazing vigor.

She was never defeated
or embittered by her long relation-
ship with Parkinson’s, choosing
instead to be delighted by her life.
When recently confronted with the
prospect of new, far reaching and
painful complications of her dis-

go of life. Calling her loving and
beloved family and friends togeth-
er, she was able to swiftly, peace-
fully, and joyfully slip away. V

Glo Daley is art astrologer who
lives in Huntington.

     

EH EASTERN FUNDING INC

 

Nancy Ellen Judd, MA
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor

COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

I802I863.2084

2 CHURCH STREET, BURLINGTON VT 05401

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