'1": 4 out in the mountains l AUGUST 2006 I MOUNTAlNPR|DEMED|A.ORG ho had been jailedfor having" ~ sex with otherrnen died in June‘ fter being released‘ said. H1stor1c Race atricla Todd ‘made history last onth-when -voters in Alabama's \_fh‘1,e’ggisjlat,iV§5_=dist,rict voted to ‘ ‘ndthe Democratto the State ' ouse, markingythe first time ver thatlegislature, will include n openlyfgay.representative, *U.S. Newswire reported. The ;Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the -‘ etion‘s largest; gay and lesbian olitical action committee, an-J rdorsed Todd and-helped raise elp fundcher campaign.» Todd the general ‘election in Novem- ber. ‘ Q ‘ ‘ In other Julylelections, Vic- .tory-enclorsed candidate Rep. Karla Drenner won her Demo- : cratic primary to advance to the ff general election in November. 13.: Drenner is Georgia's. only openly ’ gay state legislator. Also, Allen f Thornell, a Wctory endorsee who is seeking election to the Geor- ‘ gia state House, advanced to a .51 runoff in his Democratic primary . election, the report said. -_.HoUrsAToN,~.rx r Iflransgenders ,; Last month, the Government ccountabil_ity“0ffice (GAO) ; testified before a House Home- Tland Security subcommittee to otlight $1.4 billion fraudulent aste of Emergency Assistance ‘ unds (EAF) to l-lurricane Katrina ,A"3o.y’ear-aid clothling designer ' ‘ C ital, t_he.l_ntsrnaq nalGay and ,v ...........;_ f * e I0 r r i r r "§a‘la§l‘;§i.".7§l‘«‘l§ri’f¢rTl§.lZ33-. .C?"d=°‘J"a*s*-‘HR"'—5°*d-i has no Republican opponent in c C ourworld , Transgender Advocacycoalition , , ’ on this claim y"fa,bricated" and . "fraudul’ent."’ln_reviewing‘both , if A paidfo ‘"‘inlran,(aged 15 and1 . . g respectively, at the time of their C .co.Mi=4n.eo Tl-ilSl‘MOlNTi-i ev -eorroe CLYNN McN:coL§ l_ referenceof a- s,e1x3change, nor ’ ‘T ’ can and U.S.;civil rights groups in c _ a lettejrpubvlishedpin June; ‘ ‘ any, of the presidential candi- . i CHICAGO, IL 0 tion Network (GLNl.* aftertheir executions, .. PlClJJres,oftheir_hangingsdrew C ll:>lOt%I_5t's.:al'o’t.ltl1cl,t:l’ie_V-\I<:rid. . . , gaymen have been executed“ ‘ since the.Ayatollahs seized , long-time gay rights campaigner ‘ . 26 years of clerical rule." V over television newscastsand emblazoned on newspaper headlines: ’fFEMA funds paid for a sex change.” a However, the National (NTAC) is now publicly calling the media and authorities on this ' claim, demanding proof that this i occurred and calling the press House subcommittee testimony and the GAO, report that un- covered the fraud, 'there_wa,si no any WVQGKY of_a,ny.type_ being " ‘ by1FEM funcls.:'. " ':Women are still being abducted. tortured and killed in Mexico despite some govern- ment efforts to investigate _ _ these brutal murder.s.“" said Jose _ Miguel Vivenco, director of the Americas division at Human ‘ , Rights Watch ‘(HRW). "Before going to the polls, the Mexican people should know which, if dates will commit to do some- thing to stop these horrendous crimes." ’ 5 , Overthe past 13 years, more than 400 women, have been , ‘murdered or 1'? disappeared" in Q Executions C i ‘ of Gays r Chicago joined morethan . *: dozen cities around the world last month in protesting against the executions of gays in Iran, . ‘ Q g Iraq and Saudi Arabia, according to a report from the Gay Libera- T ; . On July 19,2005 the govem- of Iran executed teenagers . Mahmoud Aogari and Ayaz Marhoni amests), apparently for the "crime" of hawng gay sex, the report said. "Over4,000lesbiansand“ s c ° power in 1979," said Britain's Peter Tatchell. “Altogether. an Q estimated 100.000 Iranians have ‘ been put to death over the last Vermnllt HE“-l5 COMMUNITY Sa.feSpace Moves to R.U.l.2? BURLINGTON — Safespace, Ver- mont’s only anti-violence or- ganization ‘devoted to working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans- ‘ gender, queer and questioning (LGBTQQ) people ‘is moving to the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center, 34 Elmwood Avenue, in Burlington. This move at the end of August is part of the organiza- tions’ work to join forces, a tran- sition that will be completed on October 1st,‘2006. In October, Safespace will become a pro- gram of the R.U.l.2? Queer Com- munity Center, with all services remaining free and confidential. The Sa.feSpace Executive Di- rector, Kara DeLeona.rdis will be- come the new Executive Direc- tor of R.U.1.2?. The newly hired Sa.feSpace Program Director, Ann Atkins, formerly of Voices Against Violence in St. Albans, along with interns and volun- teers, will provide advocacy and support over the support line and provide in-person advocacy at the Center or in off-site confidential locations. In addition, Safespace will continue to provide training and awareness-raising activi- ties for the community about is- sues of violence in the LGBTQQ community. Safespace will con- tinue to be available at the same. phone number (802) 863-0003 or toll-free (866) 869-7341. Informa- tion about Sa.feSpace can also be found at www.SafeSpaceVt. org. The R.U.1.2? Queer Commu- nity Center is looking for a new name to match the intemal chang- es the organization is undergoing With the addition of SafeSpace. Name suggestions are welcome, as is feedback about the transi- tion. Please visit the transition blog at queercommunitycenter- transition@blogspot.com. Ann Atkins is the new Program Director for SafeSpace PHOTO: LYNN MCNICOL R.U.l.2? willhost a fall open house for the community to visit the newly expanded’ community center, and to meet the new staff members. Please call (802) 860- 7812 or visit the website at www. RUl2.org.V Press release from SafeSpace NEWS /VERMONT Windham County SheriffiAdmits Gum, Resigns- BY LYNN MCNICOL BRATTLEBORO — Sheriff Sheila Prue has resigned from her post, following charges she embezzled sheriff’s department funds and after being asked to resign by a state legislator, the Brattleboro Reformer reported in June} Prue, who admitted guilt to the charg- es, must repay $36,000 of depart- ment money, the report said. The Vermont Attorney Gen- eral's office filed the charges following an audit by state Audi- tor Randy Brock in April. Rep. Richard Marek, D-Newfane, requested that Prue step down upon hearing of the charges, the newspaper said. Prue also pled guilty to a felony and two misdemeanors, the Re- jornwr said. Prue had previously re- fused to step down, and maintained ‘she had done nothing wrong. In late June, however, she pled guilty to the changes. While Prue could have received ajail sentence of up to 10 years, she was given five years’ probation to give her the opportunity to pay back the money, plus 80 hours of commu- nity service, the Reformer said. Following the charges, Prue received an anonymots check for $26,000 to help pay the money owed, the Reformer said She had alreath’ paid back $10,000. The felony could be stmck from her record since she has repaid the $36,000 owed, ac- cording to reports. Prue’s attorney, Bettina Buc- hler, maintained that her client was following the same proce- dures used by prior sheriffs, and she questioned why the “white ‘male heterosexual sheriffs” ac- cused of similar misdeeds in the past were not charged. Buehler had said that she believed the charges were politically moti- vated by Brock, who is a Repub- lican. Prue is a Democrat, and openly lesbian. Brock denied the accusation. “I certainly have seen no past au- dit that has reflected this level of widespread corruption that we have seen here,” the Reformer quoted Brock. T Brock also said that sheriff are “unique” in that they are “part state employee, part. county em- ployee, part entrepreneur,” the Reformer reported. Sheriffs must solicit contracts to help sup- port their departments, such as the contracts Wmdham County previously had serving Stratton Mountain and Vermont Yankee. News reports have indicated that there may be a lack of sufficient training in place for Vermont sheriffs. Brattleboro Police Chief Rich- ard Guthrie has been named as in- terlm sheriff for Windham County, a post he will likely hold for the rest of Prue’s7cerm at the end of the ' year. The sheriff's post will be on the ballot in November.V OI TM Recruits Two New Board Members. Out in the MO1l7l(Hi7lS boasts two new board members: Kim Howard (left) and Kate Kinney (fight). bringing our grand total to six - a long Way from the two members we had just a few months ago. Thanks, Kate and Kim, for joining up and helping out..V