°"*i-1 themountains

Discover Cruising

r Your Best Vacation Value

    
 

(802) 476-0808, Toll Free (866) 332-5242

V www.cruiseone.com/jisaacs

Call Your Cruise Specialists - The Isaacs Group
Open 7 Days & Evenings

, We represent all major - I V
,niche and adventure cruise lines.
We work with many Tour Operators V   

including RSVP, Olivia, and R Family.

CLIA

#i in Cruising, Naiionwidep

 

 

Buster and the

L-Wo rd

couple of chances to really stand up
and to try to make change and to.
show our children that there are
things worth shouting about.”
Although initially the kids were
devastated, they’ve since been satu-
rated with’ support including e-
mails, gifts, letters, phone calls, and
even ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.
A bear from a Pennsylvania family
arrived with a note explaining that
he was to hug in case the burden of
all this was too-much.

Pike wonders why we -
can’t teach our youngsters not to

fear or hate things that are different.

“I wish people were willing to say
to their children, ‘I may not
approve _[of_ homosexuality]. but

thereare many kinds ofifalmilies." 

Don’t tell your children that I don’t
exist and that my dapghter’s life is
invalid.” That’s- why Buster was
such a great fit with this Vermont
family.

Buster has visited
Orthodox Jewish kids in
Manhattan, a Kurdish girl in
Nashville, and a Mormon family in
Salt Lake City. He chased a
“swamp monster” in the Bayou,
played with Pentecostal Christians
in South Carolina and has visited
Hmong children and kids who live
with their grandparents. At each
stop, he sees the world through the
eyes of a child.

In addition to nationwide
attention, Pike’s family has
received local support. The
Vermont General Assembly sent
letters signed by over 60 legislators
to PBS and Vermont Public
Television strongly objecting to the
Secretary of Education’s censor-
ship. And among the most support-
ive was the response from VPT. As
soon as the episode was available,
Pike was assured that “Sugartirne!”
would be aired.

Ann Curran, the commu-
nity relations director at VPT,
remarked, “We’ve never backed
down from anything and we’re not
likely to succumb to pressure.”
Although contrary to PBS’s action,
it was a “pretty quick decision” to

continued from page 1

‘run the show. Asked about reports

that VPT had previously been pres-
sured not to film and air a program
on civil unions, Curran said the sta-
tion has never been pressured
directly by the Bush
Administration.

What willbecome of
Buster? The U.S. House of
Representatives just passed the
Broadcast Decency Enforcement
Act of 2005. This measure will
allow the FCC to levy fines of up
to $500,000 without warning if a
broadcast is considered “indecent?
If our gay and lesbian families are
labeled indecent, as Secretary

. ... .,... .

“We’ve never
backed down
from
anything and
~we’r‘e not
‘likely to
succumb to
pressure.”
Ann Curran,
Vermont
Public
Television

Spellings implied, Buster might
disappear — or be forced to limit his
visits only to the Cleavers. V '

Postcards From Buster’s Sugartime.’
episode will air on March 23 and
3:30 pm on Vermont Public
Television. Assistant Editor Susan
McMillan lives in Mallett’s Bay
with her partner and two four-foot-
ed friends. ’