Out in the Mountains

Editorial

It’s the morning after the election and after the
elation of Clinton’s victory and the defeat of
Measure 9 in Oregon; comes the reality of
what it means. While we can and should take
some time to appreciate what for most of us is
a victory, the defeat of George Bush and re-
pudiation of 12 years of hate mongering and
neglect, we also have to make sure we hold
those we voted for responsible to us. It’s too
early to know to what extent the lesbian and
gay vote was responsible for Bush’s defeat,
but predictions just prior to the election sug-
gested we would comprise a substantial voting
block.

It wems certain some things will change al-
most right away. Clinton’s promise to issue an
executive order banning the military from ex-
cluding gays and lesbians is likely to occur
within days or weeks of his taking office. His
pledge to increase both funding and focus on
AIDS issues (and other health care issues, in-
cluding the lack of accessibility and afford-
ability for many Americans) is also likely to
me early action.

Italsowernssafetoamumetherewillbeim
creased visibility and presence of lesbians and
gaysandourissuesintheadministratiort
(Though as Barny Frank pointed out in an
election night interview, the current ad-
rninistration could support its own clnpter of
PFLAG.)

Despite these pluses, we need to be vigilant on
the national and local level to make sure we
continue to move forward. While Bill Clinton

isyears aheadofBushandtheRq)ublicans on
issues of civil rights and AIDS funding, it's
not clear how much further his support goes. It
took months before he publicly spoke against
Oregon’s Measure 9 and he has said he
doesn’t believe in gay marriage. While he has
spoken of including our families in his vision
of America, we don’t know where he stands
on such issues as domestic partnership con-
cerns and adoption and foster care.

Yes we have gainedground The factthatour
issues were taken seriously and debated na-
tionally is a major improvement. The backlash
against the hatemongering of the Republican
National Convention is heartening. However,
even as we give a sigh of relief over the defeat
of Measure 9, we have to wonder how much
of a victory it is to simply hold the line. We
look to Colorado and Florida and wonder
where the next fight will be and how much of
our energy will be consumed in trying to keep
the same thing from happening elsewhere.
Certairrlywecanhopetlratwithanadministra
tion that is not pledged to using hate and di-
visiveness as a tool to distract Americans from
the real issues and problems in their lives we
can see some real change.

Hope and change - those were the ever present
themes of the Clinton campaign to the point
where it almost sounded like a joke. But that’s
preciselywhatweneedtobepalive-that
momentum that got us energized to work in
local and national campaigns, got increased
recognition of our issues and concerns (and
ourverylives),gotustothepollsinrecord
numbers, and has to carry us as we continue
the hard work of ensuring our full participa-
tion in American society. V .

Plans for Pride Day 1993

Cruise Along

Taking advantage of an early start, plans
are already underway for the 1993 Les-
bian, Gay and Bisexual Pride Day cel-
ebration. The date has ben set for Sat-
urday June 26th in Burlington. Mark
your calendars now and plan to be there.
If you usually go to Boston, New York or
San Francisco to celebrate Pride...this
year we want you to come to Burlington.
We want to have costumes and floats and
full state representation. Let’s be loud and
proud here in our own state.

It’s not too late to get involved in plan-
ning. We want a broad base of in-
dividuals. We’ll need committee mem-
bers for various projects (from fund
raising to float making) and we also need
folks that want to get regional groups
organized.
2

While still in the early stages of planning,
one thing is clear. We want to have FUN.
Tentative ideas include a march complete
with floats, with horse teams, with bikers,
and hikers, you name it...and a picnic/fair/
entertainment day after the march at Oak-
ledge Park in Burlington; volleyball tour-
naments, raffles, comedians, music, his-
torical photo and slide retrospective. Let
us know what would be fun for you.

We’ve got a few fundraisers planned al-
ready; a Valentines Day dance and a Pride
walk-a-thon. We’ll be keeping you posted.
It’s also not to early to send in a donation.
Checks can be made to VLGB Pride 1993
and sent to PO Box 1752, Burlington, VT
05402.

For more information on how you can get
involved call: Lucy at 863-8236 or Leah at
864-6764. V