VERMONT'S VOICE FOR THE LESBIAN, GAY. BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER mnun IIIIIS co~w»u~-w SINCE 1985 EDITOR Lynn McNicol editor@mountainpridemedia.org ART DIRECTOR Don Eggert don@mountainpridemedia.org OPERATIONS MGR. Greg Thompson opsmgr@mountainpridemedia.org CLASSIFIEDS Greg Thompson classifieds@mountainpridemedia.org CALENDAR Dan Brink calendar@mountainpridemedia. org SOURCE EDITOR Greg Thompson source@mountainpridemedia.org CONTRIBUTORS: Paul Olsen, Mark Agrast, Sam Berger, ' Brodie Butland, Leah Wittenberg, Robert William Wolff, Renee Lang, ND; Tory Oliver, MSW; Lynn Martin, Jason Whipple, Lluvia Mulvaney-Stanak, Alessia Johnson- Brick, Will Holden, Cedric Davis, Donna lverson, Cynthia Potts, Joe Swinyer, Stuart Granoff, Alison Bechdel, Glen Hanson, Allan Neuwirth, and Robert Kirby. COVER PHOTO: Connie Beal with Pride sign on Burlington's.Church Street by Donna Iverson. PHOTOS: p.12 by Eric Pals. AD MANAGER Greg Thompson ads@mountainpridemedia.org NATIONAL ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Rivendell Marketing Co., Inc. (212) 242-6863 MOUNTAIN PRIDE MEDIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Brian Cote, Greg Weaver, Tina Giangrande, Miguel Rivera STATEMENT OF PURPOSE The purpose of Out In The Mountains [OITM] is to serve as a voice for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people, and our supporters in Vermont. We wish the newspaper to be a source of information, insight, and affirmation. We also see OITM as a vehicle for the celebration of the culture and diversity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities here in Vermont and elsewhere. EDITORIAL POLICY We will consider for publication any material that broadens our understanding of our lifestyles and of each other. Views and opinions appearing in the paper do not necessarily represent those of Out In The Mountains. This paper, as a non-profit organization, cannot and will not endorse any political candidates. We reserve the right not to publish any material deemed to be overtly racist, sexist, anti-Semitic, ageist, classist, xenophobic, or homophobic. Unless otherwise specified, all submissions of articles, photographs, graphics, and advertisements herein are the property of Mountain Pride Media, Inc. and any re-publication or broadcast without written permission is prohibited. We are not responsible for the return of unsolicited materials. All contributions are donated to Mountain Pride Media, Inc. for our use including, but not limited to, publishing In print and electronic (Internet, Web, etc.) versions, advertising, marketing, and archival purposes with appropriate attribution to the original author. No assumption should be made about the gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation of any contributor or any person named in these pages. OITM is not responsible beyond the printing of corrections for errors in any submitted materials. OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS (ISSN 1081-5562) is published on the last Wednesday of each month by Mountain Pride Media, Inc. It is printed by BD Press of Fairfax, VT. The paper maintains offices at 34 Elmwood Ave in Burlington, Vermont. The bulk mail subscription rate is $29 per year within the USA. ' WWWMOUNTAINPRIDEMEDIAORG is updated to include the ‘ current issue of OITM, generally by the 10th of each month, in our online archive. OITM isavailable in alternative fomvats upon request. OITM is printed on recycled newsprint containing 30% post-consumer and usi'ng.100%,soy-based inks. PO'BOX'1122..BurlingtonVT05402 i802.B61,64,86 802._860.0705(t) _ a.'org www. _ . one - ‘ o 2006. Out in All Rifiits Reserved Sign in front of Bur|ington's Unitarian Universal- “e uuun the molmlultls l JULY'2006 I MOUNTAlNPRIDEMEDIA.ORG The Power to Choose ‘ urlington’s Unitarian church, which sits just B across from our offices, posts a sign out front with messages that are changed from time to time. The latest one, pictured here, got me to thinking about’ the decisions we make every day, how we go ’ about making them, and who ._ is affected by ’ them. V ' There are some decisions we make that can potentially affect many others. As the majority of Fortune 500 companies now include sexual orientation in _ their nondiscrimination policies, it’s easy to want to support them. Yet, many of those corporations, such as Wal-Mart and DuPont, have a heavy downside to them in terms of low worker's pay, exploitation of communities, and pollution of the environment. What is one to do‘? Do we support the corpora- tions for their willingnesg to help our unique com- munity‘? Or refuse to support them for the damage they are doing to the environment and to social progress on other fronts? Or, is there a middle ground where stockholders, consumers and employees em both appreciate the progressive measures while working to change the destructive ones? A little closer to home, the tobacco issue has bumped up against OI TM. Would the paper like . ist Church last month. The church's congregation voted in 1997 to support same-sex marriage and was a major player in the equal marriage and civil union debates. PHOTO: LYNN MCNICOL to advertise tobacco products? a salesman asked recently. We do not have tobacco ads in 01 TM to date, although with our sluggish financial situation, it might seem tempting to wa.nt to accept such ads. But even if that industry could provide us with some much-needed cash, on another level I believe we would lose by giving them space. Our community struggles with high rates of tobacco use, especially among youth. Ifwe are going to continue to encour- age healthy choices, and invite young people to be involved in OITM, then we would be sending a double message to them if we advertised a toxic substance, and that would not be ir1 line with our stated purpose. Of course, most of the decisions we all make are of a more personal nature. We make decisions for ourselves that affect the rest of our day, or some- times,.the rest of our lives. We can choose to act po- litically when we see the need to. We get to choose what habits we want to have, or habits we want to give up. We can choose Whether and in what cir- cumstances to be out about our sexual orientation I or gender identification. We can choose to have safe sex, and hang out with people who respect us and care about us. Poet Mary Oliver really said it best: What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? teeredy °°m'.~‘. t9. ‘.‘.19.e.‘?l“.8$;. ,h.<.=.1ps=,.r1..at stuffing night, sent money,“contrib1it‘éd conteiit, read the paper, purchased ads and supported OITM in a variety of other ways. A few months ago, we weren’t sure if we would even have a Pride issue. With your ongoing help and support, we’re able to continue, at least for now. Happy Pride Day! V a big Thank You! to everyone who has volun- Lynn McNicol, Editor ’ WITT'SE._ND BY LEAH WITTENBERG ./7 . , ’ She Am 7‘ Heavy 5/7e’$ My Mother a/7 mmesceaz, @ oz. CarryTheLoad To 5-roP GLOBAL WARMING I