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COMMUNITY

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Kate J erman Says Bye” to utrigh 

an nutin the mountains I AUGUST 2006 I MOUNTA|NPR|DEMEDlA.ORG

Longtime Leader Heads for Graduate School

‘ BY JESSI BURG

BURLINGTON - After four years,
two locations and countless meet-
ings, events, and grant proposals,
Co-Executive Director Kate Jer-
man is leaving Outright Vermont.
Hired as a program specialist,
Kate started out developing pro-
gram ideas for Outright. Now, as
co-executive director with Lluvia
Mulvaney-Sta.nak, the only other
paid staff at Outright, she does a
little bit of everything, from writ-
ing grants to giving presentations

to schools to helping organize dif-

ferent support groups.

Upon J errnan’s arrival at Out-
right, the organization was mostly
crisis—oriented, and her position
was the beginning of youth lead-
ing the youth. The last four years
at Outright have diversified the
space into a real community
center, a place for queer youth to
gather and find their voice.

Though dealing with crisis sit-
uations is still an important part
of Outright, Kate also talked of
the emphasis on activism, giving
back to the community, and sup-

porting members of the communi-

ty. Schools can request programs
from Outright such as Queer 101

to help increase awareness and
tolerance or in response to a
bias incident. Lately, Outright’s
recent move to a space on North
Winopski has Kate raving about
the possibilities. Now, with three
times the space, Outright is be-
coming a proper community cen-
ter. The old space was in an office
building; the new space boasts
couches, games, books and room
to breathe.

Over the course of our in-
terview, Kate reflected on the
strengths of Outright. She praised
the volunteers who make Outright
possible, and talked about how
“no one is here for the money.”
To hear Kate tell it, Outright is a
living example of what Margaret
Mead was talking about when

. she said it takes a small group of

dedicated individuals to change
the world. She spoke of the sup-
port that Outright has provided;
smiling, she adds that it's a “big
obnoxious family, but a family.”
There are so many things happen-
ing at Outright, such as the new
space and the receipt of another
grant, that it’s hard to leave.
Though her decision to leave
Outright has been a tough one,
Kate feels that now is the right

Kate Jerman (far right) at Visibility Day

 

PHOTO: LYNN MCNICOL

time to go. She states that “a
change in leadership is good for
any organization,” and is hoping
for new ideas and great things

to come out of Outright in the
future. Kate spoke of her job be-
ing hard work, but rewarding, and
though it’s the right time to move
out, she doesn’t feel she has to
leave. Though she “could have
stayed longer,” she and Lluvia will
both leave eventually and it could
not be at the same time.

Now, Kate is heading off to the
Columbia School of Public Health
to attend the new program in
sexuality and public health. After
she completes her master's de-

gree, she wants to continue work-
ing within the queer community
on a broad scale. She feels that
“getting my masters will give me
more power to enact change on a
bigger scale.” Her undergraduate
degree in social workfrom NYU
landed her the job at Outright, but
she’s always known she wanted
to work with the queer commu-
nity. When she discovered the job
at Outright, her initial reaction '
was that she “had no ideal could
do this kind of work and get paid
for it!” With interests in several
different areas, from interna-
tional HIV/AIDS work to the trans
community - something that has

i help mend that gap. She spoke of

recently attracted her attention - I
Kate wonders what the future 
hold and is excited to find out. ‘
Her reflections on the trans
community, which she feels is un.‘
derrepresented, ranged from the L -.
lack of knowledge to the lack of ‘Q 3
-support both within and without} ‘
the queer community. We talked
of the lack of information the av-
erage person has about the trans .
community, and Kate is hoping to

 

a program she used to run called '
Gay 101, it has since changed its T
name to Queer 101 and deals with
many more trans-related issues. '

“Burlington has a really active
trans community, which is amaz-‘ ’
ing, but I know I'm not going to I
find that everywhere,” she said. '
When asked if she was planning
on working with trans issues aft
her degree, Kate was unsure, but
wouldn’t be surprised. Accor‘ ‘
to Kate, “my mom always told in
that whoever the underdog Was,} ,
that’s who I’d be fighting for."V " -

 
  
   
  
   
 
  
   

Jessi Burg is in Burlington ‘for,’ .
the summer before returning
to finish her own degree at St
Lawrence University. ‘

One very large church.
Two gay teens.
And a bus.

 

A new drama coming to F|ynnSpace September 12.
www.thebustheplay.com