“Queer” is OK

Thank you so much for your hard
work on behalf of OITM. I love
the redesign, and as a fellow re-
porter, I appreciate your thought-
ful and professional coverage of
the news. It’s a vital service to our
community.

_ It's clear from the bylines that
you're currently the paper’s only
news reporter. I know you’d like
to have more people covering
news for you. There are certainly
more stories to tell. I’ve contrib—'
uted articles on occasion, and
will again, but my partner and
I recently had a baby, and I’m
swar_nped with work.

. That's partly thanks to OITM - '

when I decided to pursue a career
as a writer in 1998, I got my first
assignment from this newspaper.
I wrote several stories for 01 TM,
and they helped me to land my
first paying gig writing for the
Vermont Times. The clips that I
accumulated at OITM and at Ver-
mont Times are what convinced

' the editors of Seven Days to give

me a shot at writing for them in
2001_. They hired me as a full-tirne
staffwriter in 2905.

  ‘M'y9XDeI.ieI.1f¢'e ’is..pr<.>0.f that 
writing for 01 TM can provide as-

piring writers with clips they can
use to advance their careers. And

A volunteering your time and your

words is a great way to give back
to the community.

On another note, I read your
disparaging comments regarding

' the use of the word “queer” to
_ describe our diverse V 
‘ Iunderstand your reluctance‘ to ‘

embrace the word, but I disagree
with your statement that we need
a label “more positive than‘ queer.”
For the majority of LGBTQQIA
people under 35 - maybe 40? — the
world queer has mostly positive
associations. We’vé‘:reclaimed it.
We’re using it. And wecwish you
would join usf People ofall per-
suasions all over the country are
using the word in a very visible,
positive way. To buck that trend,
in my opinion, is to putfyourself
on the wrong‘ side of history{ 
The debate. over whether‘-or"

not to use “queer” is similar, in my
mind, to the debate over, gay mar-
riage. A sizable number of people
in this country find gay marriage

. repellent. Mostof them are over

40. If you look at survey data, it's
clear that rising generations do
not possess the same deep-seated

I discomfort with gay marriage,

regardless of their sexual orienta-
tion.
The folks in the marriage
movement argue that it's just a
"matter ofiirne before the demo- .

graphics‘ shift‘:-and people in this 

country embrace state-sanctioned
same—sex couplehood. Maybe the
same thing is true of the word
“queer.” I hope it happens sooner.

CATHY RESMER
Winooski

“Gay” is OK

In response to the question you
posed at the end of your editorial
entitled “Alphabet Soup,” I would
agree “LGBTQQIA” is way over
the edge. Instead, I would suggest
that we simply stick to the word
“gay” which would stand for any-
one who is not heterosexual.

Years ago, one of my students
came running up to me all excited
and wanted to know for sure,
wasn’t it true that the word “gay”
meant happy‘? I assured her that
yes, indeed, it did in fact mean
happy!.We even looked it up in
the dictionary and sure enough, _
Merriam Webster agrees. Since
that day I have always cherished
the word “gay.”

Many thanks for all that you
do to keep Out In The Mountains
up and running. Your fans greatly
appreciate it. Best wishes for your

 

Windsor

Dean: Take
Responsibility

—-for DNC’s Gay
Outreach Program

After making the overworked
Donald’ Hitchcocl<"a sacrificial ‘‘
lamb, now the Democratic Na-
tional Committee (DNC) is at-
tempting to silence the party’s -gay
activists. Choosing to let Donald

' __go was a mistake. Now we have a
I‘ new _director, Brian Bond, without

a strategic plan and without the
funding, institutional support or

‘time to handle both frmdraising

and outreach to the LGBT'com-
munit-y. The DNC’s LGBT and field
staff now ‘must divide their time
between handling an immense
task and calming the critics of the
program. ’
Taking the LGBT vote for

grantedis a luxury the DNC
cannot afford with crucial 2006
 elections approaching.
It-isllikely that the LGBT vote

 will play a very important role

in deciding who is elected and

_who falls just short this season.
—W1thout a strong and active LGBT

field program from 2006 to 2008,
the Democratic Party risks losing
the substantial gains it made in
organizing the LGBT community

g_during the 2904 campaign: V; 
= . ..The'_'LG_BT cornrrg1_1r}§ty;'§,S_"9I§é We I,

-._-..... - .-_ _. -.._._ .__r.__... _. _.._..._ ._ .... ....__ ..._._._._.

J ‘JULY 2006 'l'IiI'lt' In” the inililfiiiilns 1

IE" it  it i5! Send your letters to: editor@mountainpridemedia.org

I . or Out in the Mountains, PO Box 1122, Burlington, VT 05402

of the most engaged demograph-
ics. It is looking for a party that
will light for its issues. But under
the leadership of Howard Dean,
the Democratic Party continues
to signal to LGBT votes that they
will take our money but do not
take up our issues for fear of ap-
pearing too liberal.

-Stripping the field program
and replacing it with a plan fo-
cused entirely on fundraising is
not only disheartening, but is
destroying the credibly of the
DNC, Howard Dean and other
high-ranking LGBT offlcers such
as Andy Tobias. As the highest
ranking officer at the DNC, Mr.
Tobias should be the most vocal
critic of the DNC’s dismantling
of the LGBT outreach programs
— not its most silent.

The addition of Brian Bond
provides a good opportunity for
change. But the DNC should not
use his skills for the purpose of
fundraising as they did with Don-
ald Hitchcock. Without a full-time
field outreach staffer and a sepa-
rate full-time LGBT fundraiser,.
the DNC will continue to sacrifice
field organizing for dollars.

I strongly urge you to consider
what the DNC is doing before ,
writing a fundraising check. It
is time to accept that the LGBT
community must be more than
the silent piggy bank of the .
Democratic Party and from this
day forward commit to realizing
a formal place in Party organizing
and outreach before it is too late.

ANDY SZEKERES

~ LGBT and Democratic Activist
Former LGBT Field Director

‘ — Wisconsin Democratic Party
Former Out for Dean Chapter
Leader

Mary Cheney vs.
the Ugly Gay Left

The Gay Left is increasingly be-
coming a mirror image of all the
hatred and intolerance they con-
demn. Specifically, they exclude
over one million gay voters who,
according to the New York Times,
are Republican and represent
one out of four gay voters in exit
polls.

This problem was on display

* with the vile attacks and despi-
' cable bar-raising by many gay

editors and activists toward Mary
Cheney, the partnered lesbian
daughter of Vice President Rich-
ard Cheney.

Mary Cheney’s recent public
statements opposing the federal
constitutional amendment to
ban same-sex marriage has been
almost consistently greeted with

::‘t9_g.-little, too late” responses

from those who write editorial
opinion for the gay world. The
fact that her father, a conserva-
tive Republican, is also opposed
to amending the Constitution to
ban gay marriage is not even un-
derscored or celebrated by the far
left gay press. ,

This is exactly why the gay left
has reached the point of diminish-
ing returns in the gay community.
They cannot accept incremental
progress on gay issues by Repub-
licans, albeit they certainly allow
the Democratic National Commit.-
tee to veer right on gay marriage
and outreach. Republicans can
never do enough; their efforts to
placate - even defend and include
gays - are always painfully or hor-
ribly inadequate, according to the
Gay Left Noise Machine of week-
lies, blogs and websites.

As Kevin Naff, managing edi-
tor of the Washington Gay Blade
asserts, many gays are wrong-
fully blaming Mary Cheney for
not coming out soon enough
and completely enough for gay
causes. This is the phony legacy
of so many liberal and so—called
“progressive” gay writers.

You eventually learn that when
most gay people say they are
completely out, they really mean
that they are “selectively out,”
depending upon the situation, e.g.
people consider themselves “com-
pletely out” when they march in a
gay parade with dark sunglasses
on and a baseball hat pulled tight-
ly over their head. Some say they
are completely out at work, creat-
ing a false impression of self—con—
fidence and superiority, because
they don’t tell you of the closeted
aspects of their lives.

This “selectively out" business
applies to many, many left-wing
writers and activists in the GLBT
community who still hold the
keys of their own closet. While
they demand that everybody be
“out" 24/7, many of these sancti-
monious gay leftists forget that
they hide their true identity from
even Democratic family members
and friends.

Mary Cheney's public outing
was never so limited. She couldn't
hide from her parents,‘ friends,
the GOP or the Democratic Party
- and certainly not the ugly ele-
ments of the gay press who like
to call themselves humanitarians
and egalitarians. Mary Cheney
couldn't conveniently select
which avenues of her life she V
wanted to be “out” the way most
gay people do and certainly many
of her stuffy pretentious critics.

As Kevin N aff writes, “We
should all look in the mirror be-
fore condemning Mary Cheney.”
And that introspection, first and

foremostly, goes for the colum-
nists and editors of the hateful,
ridiculing, ugly Gay Left.

MATTHEW VERITAS TSIEN
Vice President, Membership
Log Cabin Republicans
South Florida

Scudder Parker
Supports Rights

Jim Douglas isn't the Governor
that Vermont needs. His actions
are consistentlyvinconsistent with
his words. An immediate and
extreme example is Jim Douglas’
statement of commitment to
Vermont’s history of protecting
minorities, ending discrimination
and creating a safe community at
the “Creating a Welcoming Com-
munity” diversity conference at
St. Michael’s College. He made
that statement just a few short
weeks after his veto of the Gen-
der Identity and Expression Bill
(H.865). This makes him the first.
Governor in recent history to veto
a piece of civil rights legislation.
Vermont needs a leader, not

a lifelong politician who doesn't
stand up against the ugly influ-
ences of partisan politics that
threaten the Vermont way of life.
We need a leader who does not
appoint right wing conservatives

to Vemiont’s Human Rights Com- _

mission who then vote against
important civil rights legislation.
Jim Douglas puts special interests
ahead of what is best for all Ver-
monters.

My name is Scudder Parker
and I am the Democratic candi-
date for Governor of Vermont. My
campaign is a campaign to unite
and empower people all across
our state, regardless of party
affiliation, to join together in a
common purpose. I will protect
what is special about our state
and restore Vermont as a leader
on basic human rights issues. I
will unify Vermont and end the
divisiveness that concerns so
many of us.

I will work tirelessly to protect
your civil rights. Jim Douglas
needed me to remind him that
he needed to protect Vermonters
from the N SA wiretapping. Jim
Douglas also needs to be remind-
ed that all Vermonters deserve
to be protected from discrimina-
tion for expressing their gender
identity;

My campaign is powered by
people - Vermonters fueled with
optimism, passion, conviction
and the dedication to make ideas
become reality. I invite you to join
us. ‘

- SCUlDDER PARKER
Middlesex