Out in the Mountains

Ups-N-Downs

Continued from page 1

10. On January 1, 1994, Blue Cross/Blue
Shield of Vermont, one of the state's
top health insurance companies,
began offering domestic partnership
benefits to its employees. Health
insurance companies, usually viewed
as politically conservative, are slowly
responding to outside pressures to
recognize domestic partners and the
partner's dependent children. Blue
Cross/Blue Shield joins a handful of
other employers in Vermont who
offer such benefits. The significance
of an insurer extending domestic
partner benefits is that it opens the
doors to other employers‘ ability to
offer these benefits.

9. Kristine Gebbie, former AIDS czar
under the Clinton administration,
visited Vermont in March. Her
whirlwind visit to the state brought her

 

(01 TM photo by John Olson)
Former AIDS czar, Kristine Gebbie,

visiting Vermont back in March

to stops at the VT Department of
Health, the University Health Center,
the state legislature and Gov. Howard
Dean, and Vermont CARES. When
asked how the needs of Vermonters
with HIV/AIDS differ from the needs
of others around the country, Gebbie
said that "the basic needs are the same
— people with this virus need good
competent medical care, they need it
early, and they need a chance to make
their own decisions about treatment,
lifestyle and all those things to try to
live a healthy life despite the virus."
The difference comes in that "the
challenge in rural areas is that the
general community level of denial of
the disease is higher so it's a lot harder
to say ‘I've got it‘ or to find somebody
that will admit that." Gebbie urged all
Vermonters to "stay concerned" about
this epidemic. Keep speaking up,
know that you've got some friends
who want to do right by this disease,
and let's keep the dialogue going.
We're going to save more lives here."
Unfortunately, Gebbie was
overwhelmed, less by the specific
tasks of the job, but by the intense
scrutiny placed upon her by the media,
politicians, and somewhat surprisingly
by many gay— and AIDS—activist
groups. She resigned her post as the
nation's first AIDS czar only weeks
after her Vermont visit.

. Homosexuality and safe—sex

guidelines. Both are subject matters
that should be discussed in the
classroom—-just not at Harwood High
School in South Duxbury or Winooski
High School. Harwood High School
became the first school in Vermont to
adopt a condom distribution program
for its students. Although the policy,
described as a "model" policy by

Vermont CARES Executive Director
Kate Hill, was adopted, the teaching
of safe—sex guidelines by Vermont
CARES was banned by the high
school. Because CARES uses both
technical and slang terms in its
presentation, a vocal minority was
able to convince school board officials
that the safe—sex guidelines could be
better taught by the teachers.
Similarly, Vermont CARES and
Outright Vermont were both
embroiled in a battle to present
programs during Winooski High
School's Awareness Week. Once
again, the vocal minority convinced a
scared school board that these groups’
programs were inappropriate for
students. The Awareness Week
programs were moved to an evening
schedule where a total of 9 students
participated in the two programs.
"Shellshocked" initially by these
events, CARES and Outright will
continue their work with other
schools and community organizations.
"If we don't provide this information
to young people," Hill said, "we ought
to be in jail. It's that important!"

. Let the games begin! June saw an

abundance of gay pride activities. The
largest of these events being Gay
Games IV and Stonewall 25, both in
New York City. Vennont was
represented in the Games by several
capable athletes; Kathy Lehman of
Richmond won a bronze in the
50-meter freestyle swim. Other
Vermonters enjoyed the spectacle that
was Stonewall 25. They marched in
parades, marched on the United
Nations, and undoubtedly attended
many other wild and celebratory
festivities. All in the name of history,
community and Gay Pride!

. December 4, 1993 and November 12,

1994. Editorially speaking, one date

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