iiiiobtéltill Iillithlnsl l->'APRLt:'2ooé l MOUNTA|NPRlDEMEDlA.ORG Bthe rest of mus-Toew. soc r ‘X ; E4-nfflflM3fihei'; Lead am Prominent . Gays Groups —A' gradual shift has taken place ‘in leadership positions at most , prominent LGBT organizations over the past several years, " Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg wrote in the Washington Blade in 3 March. in 2002, lesbians held the top post! at most of the nation's largest gay groups, she said. Now that's changing, and men are leading more of these orga- nizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The trend doesn't necessarily reflect membership of organizations that remain very much mixed, Weill-Greem berg said. Alsogmany women ' t'll lead a number of smaller _ organizations, such aslmmigra— n Equality, Family’ Pride, and e Mautnerifroject forlesbian ' ' ealth.(where Weill-Greenbergs. , articlevcanilbe foundfl ' 7 *'l°"‘.’§-‘-"?"i ‘SW9 Tl9l1*5 . 2 .. . advm:ates~ express concern that o‘ ‘leaders means that black lesbians‘ " are not fairly represented..A ._ . f' ’ i okesperscm from Lambda . L ; Legal, said that leadership "looks = I ’ a‘ lotlike the mainstream my- thologies about the GLBT rights- The‘American}Civil Liberties ; Union last month asked the ; 1 _ . state's high court to strike down - — sex ‘marriage.’ According to the C’ ’ Clil, New Yorl<’s law ban.- . A ing gay people from marriage 9 e processiand fraeiexpres-' . »- ‘ ’ gong projvisio‘ns.of‘New Yorl<‘s', - enstitutien-’ ;. 1 ., I . I » . » q _ The AC_LU's case,;.$amu_els nd,Galia'gherg’v. New York. De~ 1 ‘ ‘artment.‘of.l-ieaith, isgexpected o;b"e.heardi at the ‘sarne-‘time ' ‘spa similar: case New York case rought .l?Y~_Lambda- Legal. ‘~ . g , Noclate hadxbgeeni set for the ‘ earings of press time. " i Language Media 0 e Gay 8: Lesbian Alliance , gainst Defamation has begun working with Univision Radio and g g 4 .1 cbri5¥tc§.v.édii;céa]te mééiié i$rfo1¥éisa V “ J to femaleseverel yea‘rs_'ag_o predominately male, andiwhiteya ’ i R to compete. under thehew _,.New.York»Iaw.—bani)ing sarrié-V‘ “ iolatesthe eé1ualprotection,- ’ » Fersejsn-order to . ?moralvalues';from thosewho . nationwide who will advocate ' I siorials.abouti LG Bfterrninology, 1 “zssaes=arsd"1a¢si‘ contacl‘s'.'Traih-’’'' . ing sessions will he held in the ’largest Spanishilanguage media ’ V marlr1w¢y__. . *9. _ Natiorel G&y'an_d - theibase ‘craggy rights - religious front. )1 _. 9 “The more than_:1. dividuals in the 1,300 to g , tions supported’ by IWRT arose of our movement's most vain _ allies in the fight to‘ reclaim‘ I. T justify an_ti~gay bigotry as. 'deeply held religious beliefs.” said Matt Foreman, NGLTF's~ executive director. The Human Rights Cam- . paign, another national LGBT rights organization, has also cre- ated a Religion Council to help counter attacks from conserva- tive clergy. The Council will be made up of 10 spokespersons for GLBT rights from theit own ntraviisiong-Communications . religious perspectives. V POLITICS Newcomer Nearly Upsets Council mcmnbeni BURUNGTON — Joanna Cole, a Democrat runningforaseat in Ward 7, neafly upset the incumbent in her first run for political ofiice. Democracy for Vermont en- 4 dozsed Cole for her City Council nm, noting fiscal responsibility and open communication among reasons to vote for the newcomer. Cole has been active in lo- cal politics, as a member of the Neighborhood Planning Assem- bly’s steering committee and vice—chair of Burlington’s Demo- cratic Committee for Ward 7. She noted property tax concerns that needed to be dealt With, sup- porting a 1 percent sales tax, and support for the school budget, affordable housing and a new Multigenerational Community Center for the New North End. POLlT|CS Voters Choose LGBT—Friendly M BURLINGTON — In a first—time run-off election, Progressive Bob Kiss landed the mayoral seat in the March election. Kiss, a state legislator slated to resign in or- der to take the city post, has long supported LGBT-related issues, such as the Gender Identity and Expression bill, H.865. Kiss was progressive long be- fore he joined the Progressives in Burlington. He served in the Peace Corps and later performed alternative service in a Boston hospital when he was granted conscientious objector status by the U.S. Kiss moved to Burlington in 1971, where he has worked in the huma.n services field for Inthe IIIIIIIIIHIIIIS Cole surprised many when she won 503 votes in the four- waygrace in the March 7 election. The incumbent, Independent El- lie Bla.is, took 534 votes, and Re- publican Paul Decelles came in first with 718 votes. Libertarian Jeremy Ryan came in last with 68 votes. Decelles did not Win the first round, having failed to capture 40 percent of the vote. In a run- off last month, Decelles won the City Council seat with 451 votes to Blais’ 382 votes. ‘ “I believe my experience would have been helpful on the City Council, but Paul gets to be the new blood this time around,” Cole said upon hearing the re- sults of the run-off. “I wish him well.” years, including the position‘ as director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity. He has been credited with help- ing to expand domestic violence programs and working to sup- port low-income residents, many of whom are women. Bob Kiss has been “extremely kind and fair to the queer com- munity,” said a local activist who asked not to be named. Kiss was a marshall in a Pride parade, the activist said. Also, the Progres- sive party buys a table at the an- nual R.U.1.2? Dinner in support of the LGBT community. Kiss was also a cosponsor of H.865, the Gender Identity bill. Kiss has served in the Vermont l Joanna Co|e_ ’ l Cole, a retired chemistry prol fessor and biology teacher, reloi. cated to Burlington with partnefi ‘ Sarah Flynn in 2003. She isyiif member of R.U.1.2? Queer Com- munity Center. V 3 - . r l: ‘r 2 ayor Burlington Mayor-Elect, Bob Kiss A House since 2000. Subsequent to? his Win as mayor, he decided tol resign his seat in the legislaturel last month and will be sworn inj’ as mayor on April 3. : Kiss lives in Burlington partner Jackie Majoros. V i Would you like extra copies of Out in the i EIIIBII! Elllllll! Mountains to take to meetings, leave at your favorite shop, or send to friends? Check with editor@mountainpridemedia. org or call us at 802-861-6486 and we'll i be happy to give you some.