Out in the Mountains Outin the Mountains established in 1986 Editor: Fred Kuhr 9* , , Business Manager: — ‘1 Steven West , Staff Members: Hugh Coyle David Grist Ellen 7 Bruce Howden Bennett Law ¥« As Moira Paul Olsen Fred Pond ‘~ Kip Roberson Cleland Selby Miki Thomas Chris Tebbetts g . __. 2' .1 _: « it Out In The Mountains (ISSN 10815562) is published monthly except‘ for. .r._=. __ hornophobrc; " A||"météri?i|:svs0bttI!t1ed1_ .. signed H°WeVer.‘Wifi1i,n,*h¢ es or me. newsPar1er.»‘art ity will be observed. To Submit Articles & Letters by gay, lesbian, -and bisexual Vermonters. Please assist us by typing your articles and _letters double-spaced f and including 9“. 9'? 37,.‘-iegi f“: I‘: 3 . ~‘°°"‘bil'?d» may appear anonymously; ‘upon " request, and ‘strict confidential- July/August issue. The I rnainuains olfioes at ‘l097'St)I.1ll'i_ 'We encourage and implore our I readers to do what they can to . make OITM a paperboth for and’ your name and phone numberin’. Me From the Editor: Questioning Authority ' . an "tars it WINOOSKI -- Soon after my first issue as editor of OITM, Pearls, , Burl.ington‘s only g/I/b bar, changed its name to 135 Pearl and began ’ marketing itself as "race, gender, and orientation neutral." The Vermont Times, a Chittenden County weekly, ran a story on the bar and our .cornrnufrfn1’y's iieaction to the change. The reporter called me for a quote, aieaotion} a._pr-int bite. I explained to her that I only patronize 135 Pearl once a month or so, and others in the community who go more often would probably have stronger words on the issue. She responded, "But you're editor of the gay paper, right?" Soon after that, I received an invitation to a "Meet Jan Backus" brunch for the state's g/l/b community, in honor of the then—candidate for U.S. Senate. Even though I was a Backus supporter, I was surprised to receive an invitation addressed to the "leaders" of Vermont's g/I/b community. And then, representatives from the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights (V CLGR) asked me to co—facilitate a workshop at last year's conference on the topic of, you guessed it, leadership in the community. Once I had accepted the position as 0ITMs editor, I was prepared for the number of hours I would spend putting the newspaper together. I was prepared for the search for more staff writers. And I was prepared for the challenge of making OITM bigger and better than ever. However, I was not prepared for how my role in our community would change. I had become a leader — whether I wanted to or not. The rapidity of this change made me wonder what has created such a leadership vortex. Is it because we are ‘so relatively small in number, as compared to communities in the urban centers of New York City, Boston, and Montreal, that few potential "leaders" are willing to step forward? Is it our state's rurality, keeping us in the closet and perpetuating a’ feeling of disconnectedness? Or are the problems, if problems indeed exist, complicated by the collective psyche of an oppressed group, the members of which do not have as many commonalities as we had hoped? In this very queer month of October -- Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual History Month; National Coming Out Day; AIDS Awareness Month; and the VCLGR 3rd Annual Conference and Queer Town Meeting -- we here at OITM thought it an appropriate time to more closely examine the topic of leadership. Staff writer Bennett Law contacted "leaders" from all segments of Vermont's g/l/b community in preparation for his multi-part series on leadership. Issues discussed in this month's installment include the recent history of our movement —— the "disinvitation" of Lt. Gov. Barbara Snelling from this year's Pride Day festivities, the debate over the appropriateness 0f_tl’1is.ye&}r's,Pride Day therr,1e."Q_ueers»and Friends .» ""F1ght‘tl1e"R1ght,""’:«md the‘ circumstances surround1ngiMary Hurlie's recent resignation fromher position as VCLGR BoardChair. Taking his turn at the editorial bat in this issue's "Voices From The Mountains," Terje Anderson, one of the founders of Vermont CARES and Out In The Mountains, offers his insights into the relationship between leaders and the community they lead. a For National Coming Out Day, staff writer Paul Olsen interviewed another community leader, Vermont State Auditor of Accounts Ed Flanagan, who recently came out publicly as a gay man. According to the national Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, Flanagan is now the only opfenly gay or lesbian person in the U.S. to hold a statewide elected 0 ice. As you peruse this issue, sifting through the thoughts and ideas of some of our community's "leaders," being excited by some and frustrated by others, I would like to offer a challenge of leadership to all our readers. Simply, find some way to make a difference in the lives of those in the community —— whether it be by volunteering for an organization that desperately needs your time and energy; by writing a letter to the editor, giving voice to your thoughts and opinions; or by merely taking the next step in your coming out process, leaving yourself open for questions, criticisms, fears, and yes, even praise. For in the end, we are all leaders. V Letters to the Editor All Those Fingers Pointing Susan Aranoff is hard—working, aware, caring, and dedicated to our community with impeccable integrity. I have known and worked with her for ten years. The letter from Mary Hurlie last month in this newspaper alleges Susan Aranoff is "self-serving," "insensitive," "ignorant," and an "unscrupulous amateur." There is an old saying that one who points a finger at another has three fingers pointing back at them. I am more concerned, however, that this kind of attack on our leadership is destructive to our community. Horizontal hostility does not help our cause when there is already so much hatred of us out there. Louise Brill South Royalton ***** Kudos from the Kingdom As a bisexual in a straight relationship in an isolated community in the Northeast Queen/Kingdom, 01 TM is crucial to helping me feel a connection to a part of myself and to a community that has supported me through the years. I appreciate OI TM, most especially as a resource to draw from and a forum for us to communicate. Thank you for publishing the many differing views we hold on the controversial topics that affect us Jude Elf East Albany ***** Our Ugly Little Secret As a male who came out of the bisexual closet two years ago after 20 years of being exclusively gay, I greeted Fred Kuhr's editorial, "Bisexuality 101," with a mixture of "It's About Time!" relief and "You're Barely Scratching the Surface!" bemusement, with the latter reaction the dominant one. The fact is, Fred, your editorial indeed barely scratched the surface of an ugly little secret that the gay and lesbian community has for -* yearsrefused-toface: that there are gays and lesbians who are every ' tbitas bigoted as their heterosexual counterparts. Yet for all his candor, Kuhr failed to use the one word that best describes this particular type of bigotry. It's called heterophobia. It's time to face the ugly truth: gays and lesbians who have a hard time dealing with bisexuals are, in fact, harboring feelings of heterophobia. It's obvious that heterosexuals who have a problem dealing with bisexuals are harboring feelings of homophobia. So why is it so hard for gays and lesbians to admit having heterophobic feelings toward bisexuals (and towards "straights," for that matter)? I suspect one reason why gays and lesbians have such a hard time dealing with bisexuals is a gut—level fear that if every bisexual person came out of the closet, they would outnumber exclusive gays and lesbians by a two—to—one ratio. It's no secret that this fear is most pronounced among lesbians, who are outnumbered by gay men nearly three to one -— and know that bisexuality is far more common among women than among men. D. 5. (ékeeter) Sanders Burlington V V'BV-Online Voice: 802-886-2400 Modem: 802-886-2419 Telnet: vbv-online.com Forums - Private Chat - Email Private forums available a great place to meet on the Internet Carol L. 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