WILB
QUARTO

VERMON

I 

Lafimoven

n the loot: l\;aekIa~h election. more gay men
and lesbians than exer before worked on
political campaigns for politicians who had
mted for L'l\II unions. .\lan) of us tried to
defend the seats of the I)CUl(l'I’L|l\ and
RL'pl|l3IlCéll]'~. w ho had stood h) us. knowing the
political risk they took by their votes.
Sex entecn ol our allies lnsl their races that )car.

And in that same election Robert
!)(’\"\. an out gas man. first ran tor the House.
“on his race. and has been reelected twice.
|ulll|Il}.! Hill l.ippcrt \\I\n \\;|s lint appointed to
the House to till a \acanc_\ in I094.

The nutnbcr ol qttccrs invnlv ed in
t‘IL‘L'lItIll\ |llCl't‘;t\t‘tI ;t_L‘:tllt in 21103. \\ith ga_\ men
and leshiaiis taking lttglicrpiolile positions.

In ()ian_ee ('onnI_\. |oni:tinie ga)
actn ix: Iloh llland has been the county chair-
man of the I)einociatie I’;u1_v since 3001. min-
niny tiiisticeesxt'tIll_\ three times for the legisla-
ture. Wlicn he Iv.-ggaii. there \\at\ one Detnocrat
reprcscnlim: the count_\. Now there are eight.

In Ztltll. Linda Weiss. an out lesbian
who put aside her own Intention to run for llte
legislature two _vear\ lwlore. en_t:ineet'ed the
ieturn ol state Seiiatot‘ Mark Macl)ona|d to a
seat he lost in the civil union hateklzisli. In the

inside.

nd shakers: (I to r) Susan

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array, Rep.-elect Steve Howard, Progressive Martha Abbott,  Linda Weiss.

Martha Abbott, Bob Bland, Robert Dostis, Ed F Ianagan. Keith Goslant, Steve
Howard, Jason Lorber. Susan Murray, B] Rogers, Linda Weiss, and, of course, Bill
Lippert: many of these names will be familiar, others not. They are some of the les-
bian and gay movers and shakers in mainstream politics in Vermont. Some have
been active in mainstream politics for years, while others could be said to be mem-
bers of the ‘Class of 2000.’ I chatted with six of them — some before and some after
the elections — about how and why they came into politics.

\Ltlll\.' year. Susan .\Iumi_\. known for her work
on Ilukrr r. Siule. led the campaign of Claire
.-‘\_\er to uctnr_v over anti-civil tinion incumbent
Toni Baht in Adtlisun (‘ount_\. She continued
that work this _\ear as part ot Sen. .-\.ver‘s
"kitchen cabinet."

In the campaign season just past. BJ
Rogers. the fonncr director of Outright
Vermont. signed on to run gubentatorial candi-
date Peter (‘laveIIe‘.~ unsuccessful cainpaign.
Jason Lorber of Burlington made his lll\l t‘ora_\'
into electoral politics with his rtin for a seat in
the Vertnont Iltiltsc.

Steve Howard. who has been in the
House before I I99} I903) and was the
l)emocr:ttic l’at1_v chairman for it time. won
back his seat. while also nmning the ultimatel_\
Ithlllg campaign of ('hervl Rivers for Iietitenant

govemor.

There are many more of us working
out front and in the background in Vemtont
than ever before. no longer concerned that we
will be rejected because of our sexual orienta-
tion. and more confident that electoral politics
can work for us if we're there to make it work.

A More Welcoming Community

Linda Weiss has been in some wa_vs a “behind-
the-scenes" presence. She had been working in
her community of Corinth well before civil
unions became an issue. She was (and contin-
ues to be) a mail carrier and held seats on the
planning commission and the school board.
When attitudes toward civil unions divided the
town. she gave up her plans to run for the legis-
lature. but couldn't sta_v out of politics.

 VOICE FOR THE LESB AN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY

  IN THE MOUNTAINS

DECEMBER .2004“

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nstream Politics.   it

. “The first uaining I went to was a
National Gay and Lesl)ian.Task Force training
in Worcester. Massachusetts,” Weiss recalls.
There was one other person from Vermont. The
training “opened my eyes wider and made it a
lot more real. You learn a lot — you see what
needs to be done. what can be done.“

She then went to a leadership training
in 2002 sponsored by Emily's List. an organiza-
tion that raises money for women candidates.
and in the meantime was on the Vennont
Democratic Party executive committee. became
the Orange County State Committeewoman and
a member of the pa.rt_v‘s platfomi committee.

“l‘m really a pmgmatist.“ Weiss
insists. ‘Tm tisually capable of some level of
compromise in order to get to some level of
greater good. lf the goal is to get enough people
into the legislature to preserve civil unions.
then we have to make sortie compromises. You
don't talk about it [on the campaign trail]. but
people know about it an_\=\va_\*."'

Her political involvement stems from
“a deep belief and commitment to public serv-
ice.“ She points to the schoolboard and the
planning commission.

“l was a justice of the Contld on p- 8

News 1-3

Editorial 4

Letters, Witt’s End 5
Features 6. 8

Views 10-14

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V wlcommen: p. 6. How
Vermont husnesses are core-
petirrg -‘a-';a:nst cites witirv
;)Ul'.~itr~_,._, 

Vskoolnazepa

Gift Guide ‘I5-17
Arts 18-20
Cdendir,

Safe Ha.'bors*Sr:'noo.s7 We
need a scorecard to sort
the comn:-ittees. but at least
they are talking to Outrigh

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