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If you're between the ages of 15-25 and have something to say,
this page is for YOUR stories, commentary, toons, art and pix.

Contact editor@mountainpridemedia.org.

Outright Vermont  
Receives $ 100,000

Liberty Grant Empowers Statewide Outreach ‘

BURLINGTON — Outright Vermont, the state’s pioneer for efforts to build safe, healthy, and supportive environ-
ments for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth, has been awarded $100,000 by the Los
Angeles, CA-based Liberty Hill Foundations Queer Youth Fund. This grant will fund Outright Vermont's statewide

education and outreach work throughout Vermont over the next three years.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Co-‘Executive Director Lluvia Mulvaney—Stanal<. The grant,
' according to Mulvaney-Stanak, will fund a full-
time Education and Outreach staff person who
will work with youth service providers, schools,
youth, and communities around.tl1e state.
This is the largest single grant ever received by
a queer organization in Vermont and is the larg-
est grant in Outright Vermont’s 17-year history.

“It is incredibly rewarding to have our work rec-
ognized by a prestigious national foundation," not-
ed Kate Jerman, Co-Executive Director. “Especial-
ly at present when safer schools and communities

’ for‘ queer youth remain unfunded by the state and
continue to be under attack from opponents.”

“We have had some incredible successes over the
past year,” remarked J es Kraus, Ouiright Vermont
Board Chair.‘ ‘‘It is much to the credit of the incred-
ible teamwork and dedication of our two Co-Direc-

, tors, Kate Jerrnan and Lluvia Mulvaney—Stanak.”
The Queer Youth Fund is Liberty Hill’svnew-
est ftmd. It supports grassroots, local, state, na-
tional and international nonproﬁt organizations
that improve the quality of life for gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender, queer and question- _
ing (GLBTQQ) youth. The Queer Youth Fund
assists irmovative programs and organizing
projects that empower GLBTQQ youth to
become leaders in their communiu'es.V

Press release from Outright Vermont.
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Holding the D5

BY csbiuc DAVIS

rom an early age, my
F mother told me to love
' and respect my elders.
As those that have come before
me, and as the people who
have the experience and.intel—
ligence, elders are the people
that we look to for guidance.
They are our parents, grand-
parents, mentors, and other
people we have heeded, ignored,
revered, forgotten, but hope-
fully always respected. In a

queer community with a rap-
idly growing aging community,
it is also important that we
dialogue with and support our
older members as they move

, through all of their stages of life.

As a youth in the queer com-
munity, I have been supported by
my community to an extent that
I would not have believed before
I came out. There are queer
youth—speciﬁc services around »
the counuy, but in Washington,
D.C. and Burlington, there are
plenty of places where I would

oir

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’‘‘\-I ll,
D ‘..._ ‘".‘..

.,g
.'

feel safe, and even feel welcome

’ to seek services. This is because

of the people Who, before me,
decided to come out and face
hostility from families and friends,
church groups, schools and so-
ciety. Those who preceded me
held the closet door open so that
I'could come out dancing. My
coming-out experience was so
much easier, due to the struggle
of people much older than my

20 years by now, and I owe

them a great debt of gratitude.

So now it is time for the youth

to retum the favor. .Sure, it is nice
to hold the doof"for someone
when they are trying to get into a
building, but I don't think that is
enough Our parents’ and grand-
parents’ generaiions deserve to
have all of the things that they
have given to the youth of the
community: outlets for the arts,
social networks, and some under-
standing among their generaiion.
We also need to understand the
economic and social, as well as
intellectual needs of our prede-
cessors, so that we can create the
institutions that must exist to sup-
port them. We need to hold the
more experienced members of
the queer community up as VIPs.

aching out

  

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As the youth of the queer
community, we need to begin
to study the people we have
to thank for schools that are

» becoming safer, for the ser-

vices in our community that
support us, and for being the
ﬂrst to assert their rights to
live and love in the ways that
they feel called to do, regard-
less of outside forces.V

Cedric Davis is a Burlington
College student who will be
, studying at the Community

College of Vermont in the fall.
He is living in Vermont as a
change from the fast pace of
the larger D.C. metropolitan
area. -

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