Out in the Mountains

From the Editori
The G/L/B Community -
An 'Engendered' Species?

WINOOSKI -- Putting together the monthly "OITM History" feature in
celebration of the newspaper's tenth year of publication has forced me to
stumble upon stories that I had either forgotten, heard mention of only in
passing, or did not know of at all. I have skimmed through articles such
as the arson attack on Vermont CARES, Howdy Russell's election
campaigns, and the hate crime attacks outside Burlington's gay bar,
Pearls. In the October 1989 issue, however, I came across a most
eye—opening quote. Under the headline "Attention: Volunteers Needed
for 0ITM," the editing collective stated the following:

"We are also making a special appeal to all the men in the community.
For the past two years or so women have greatly outnumbered the men
in OITM. We want to ensure that our paper doesn't take on a women
oriented slant to the exclusion of gay men."

This took me by surprise in light of the recent criticism this newspaper
has received because the men currently outntnnber the women on staff.
A colleague of mine, who has worked on the newspaper longer than I
have, mentioned that this goes in waves -— male-dominated to

female-dominated and back again. A flood of questions immediately‘

washed through my head: When can the newspaper be neither
male-dominated nor female-dominated? Should gender equality be
mandatory? Is gender equality necessary? Can men cover women's
stories? Can women cover men's stories? Do stories in and of
themselves have gender? Can a newspaper be both male and female? Or
is OITM an ‘engendered’ species, forever swishing back and forth
between the sexes? -   _

Unfortunately, OITM is not the only Vermont g/l/b organization dealing
with such questions. The Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay
Rights (V CLGR), for example, is currently working from the other end
of the gender divide. At last year's’ Conference and Queer Town Meeting
in Middlebury; 65% of the attendees were female to the men's 35%.
(Statistics fi'o1_1:r’ flfis‘year"s‘Conference in Montpelier were not available
at press time.) Of the 15 people elected last year to serve on the VCLGR
Board of Directors, seven"'were. men and eight were women. That
sounds equitable. The problem is that the majority of the men did not
run for re—election, and the group had a difficult time finding male
representation. According to Tom Aloisi, one of those male Board
members who didnot run for re—election, "VCLGR is political, and
most men don't want to be political. Men have interests other than
politics."

So now the next question: Does such a great cultural divide exist
between gay men and lesbians that it impacts how we view (and
participate in) our community organizations? In 0ITM's July/August
issue of this year, when tempers were still flaring from the
"disinvitation" of Barbara Snelling from the Pride Day Rally, an
incident dubbed "'Babsgate," a female reader wrote, "With the exception
of Alison Bechdel's work (the lesbian oriented comic strip 'Dykes To
Watch Out For‘), OITM is sadly out of touch." In the same issue, Peggy
Luhrs, Executive Director of the Burlington Women's Council, called
actions taken by this newspaper "irresponsible and dangerous."
However, every letter 01 TM received from men concerning these issues
was positive. One male reader even called the coverage "highly
responsible" and deserving of a "standing ovation."

So can gay men and lesbians work together? Or better yet, do they even
want to. A friend of mine is convinced that they cannot and will not. His
belief is that even though gay men and lesbians are all 'homosexual,' the
two cultures are separate and distinct-- with different wants and needs.
He was even shocked by the presence of a bare-chested woman at the
usually all-male, clothing optional beach at Shelbume Point in
Shelbume. He said that the Point has been claimed as a male—only area
and women should have their own space.

Just how many gays, lesbians, and (yes) bisexuals feel the same way?
Hand to tell. As far as OITM is concerned, it is the newspaper of the
state's greater g/l/b community and should remain that way. In fact, I
strongly encourage women from all around the state to get involved as
writers, account representatives, or even monthly envelope stuffers. The
wider the representation of community members on staff, the better the
newspaper will be at reflecting the entire community.

So where does this leave us? My fear is that the more we divide our own
community, the more we quibble from within, the less power we will
have and the less effective we will be in obtaining our rights as human
beings. In this light, being ‘engendered’ can only lead to extinction. V

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VOICES FFiOM THE MOUNTAINS:
An Open Letter to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgendered Vermonters

Submitted by the 1994-95 Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights (VCLGR)
Board of Directors

MONTPELIER -- We are writing in response to Mary Hurlie's
September "Voices From The Mountains," entitled "An open letter to
the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights." We are
addressing the community at large to clarify what VCLGR is, how we
function as an organization and how we deal with conflict.

What is VCLGR? VCLGR is an entirely volunteer organization whose
stated mission is to promote the civil rights, personal empowerment
and social acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered
Vermonters. Since 1985, VCLGR has worked to advocate for the
equal rights of all Vermonters and to strengthen the l/g/b/t community
statewide. In December 1993, at its first annual statewide conference,
VCLGR revised its organizational structure and elected its first ever
Board of Directors.

How does VCLGR work? VCLGR members elect eight
representatives to its Board of Directors, two co-chairs and two
co—liaisons. The Board meets one full Sunday per month. VCLGR has
several standing committees which consist of Board members and
other volunteers. These committees meet regularly throughout the
year and work on such things as the annual conference, the interactive
television series, public policy issues, fundraising, by—laws and
elections.

VCLGR adopted its first set of by—laws in October 1994. Prior to
adopting by-laws, VCLGR embraced a set of operating principles
which included directives for resolving conflict. All VCLGR meetings
are open to members and supportive allies. Contact numbers of
VCLGR Board members are listed on VCLGR letterhead. VCLGR
maintains a post office box and an email address. We publish a
column in Out In The Mountains, and we send fliers about events,
legislative alerts and periodic reports to our mailing list.

How does VCLGR work to resolve conflict? VCLGR strives to be
accessible to all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Vermonters.
When a member of our community contacts us, we respond.

We encourage discussion of complicated ..and often emotionally
charged issues,'and we work to create solutions to the issues raised.
For example, we hold an annual Queer Town Meeting at which we
invite the community to speak their hearts and minds and identify
areas of concern. At the 1994 Queer Town Meeting, people spoke of
wanting to attend VCLGR—sponsored events closer to home. In
response, we created a series of events over interactive television in
which people were able to participate at seven sites around the state.
People wanted the conference to do more to meet the needs and
acknowledge the presence and contribution of bisexuals. In response,
we offered more workshops relating to bisexuality and more
workshops on other topics presented by openly bisexual men and
women. VCLGR was also challenged to do more to increase the
diversity and accessibility of its Board, committees and programs. In
response, we adopted an expanded statement regarding interlocking
oppression, created the position of Board Diversity Chair and added a
Diversity Committee to our slate of standing committees in order to
help us achieve our goal of increasing diversity.

We do not shy away from the thorny or complicated issues of our day.

5 Nor do we shy away from conflict. We encourage anyone with any

concerns regarding VCLGR to call a Board member, write us a letter,
send an email, come to a meeting, call a co—chair or co—liaison. We
welcome constructive criticism of VCLGR actions and policies.
Destructive criticism, however, of individual Board members or other
volunteers carrying out the work of VCLGR undermines our ability to
achieve our mission. The VCLGR Board fully supports the work of
its Co—Liaisons Susan Aranoff and Keith Goslant.

As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Vermonters, we have true
enemies who work daily to make it so uncomfortable for us to be out,
that may of us continue to live in the closet or, particularly our youth,
feel compelled to take our own lives. Let's not do our enemies‘ work.
We need every volunteer we have and we need to support each other
as we struggle for equality. There are many stripes in our rainbow
flag, and VCLGR is committed to honoring and including each and

every one. Please join the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay,

Rights in our effort to strengthen and unify Vermont's many l/g/b/t
communities. V

  
 
   
   
 

Weeping ,_
Weeping is the cure for loss.

.Wee m is
Weepirlg P g the cure for loss.

Weeping

Depression

is unexpressed sadness

  
 

Raymond E. Lovett, LICSW ' Psychotherapist, 25 years experience
Rurland / 773-0007 Manchester / 362-0007