...--...........-....a Out in the Mountains Old Boston Post Road RD 1, Box 2562 Berkshire, Vermont 05450 Country Collectibles and More! Harvey J. Mayo Michael Sutherland" Proprietors Telephone (802) 933-6209 surface 81 refinishing interior 0 exterior qualiig painting Janice Goodman Hinesburg, Vermont 482-3680 Measuring Success One Investor At A Time We know that no matter who you are or what you do for a living, you want to see your family secure, your children educated, your retirement assured. We’re ready to help with a wide range of investments and a professionally trained Account Executive who can tailor a program to your needs. At Dean Witter, we measure success one investor at a lime. Ginger Williamson Account Executive Seven Burlington Square Burlington, VT 05401 (802) 863-7728 (800) 869-9660 0} DEANS wrrrrr ©1994DeanWitt2er Reynolds Inc Member SPIC VOICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS: Censured Sexualities by C. Rodgers I am a dyke. I want to live in accordance with my dykeness, which means I want to love women freely — all women ——— without fear. I want to feel the strength of women, especially my own, and not have that strength, or my abilities, or any of the possibilities for my life depend on men. I celebrate women!, And, once in a while, when I am feeling sexual, I want to share bodies with my woman lover. Well, there is such a thing as being a lesbian, and a different thing which is being part of the lesbian world. Being a lesbian is the full spectrum of my attraction to women, and how I construct my life around that central fact. Being a member of the lesbian world means having beliefs and behaviors that are acceptable to other lesbians. Failure to act in accordance with the acceptable behaviors brings isolation and rejection. Ask any woman who is sexually attracted to women, but who still has men for friends, or even (gasp!) an dccasional lover. She is a pariah, an outcast. A lesbian must never, never admit that she once loved a‘man. If she feels any grief for any pain she undergoes as she begins to call herself lesbian and leaves the straight world behind, she has no option but to suppress. No lesbian will hear her or comfort her. \ Damn this nonsense! What gives lesbians the right to reject or censure any woman? Haven’t we been victimized enough? Do we have to victimize each other? I have loved men, and I still love men. Love flows from the deepest, most sacred part of myself, and it isn’t worth less because it is directed ata man. I don’t want sex with men, but so what i'fI did? We have internalized the hatred of others into ourselves, and we give forth the rejection we have received. Women have always been trained to hate each other, and lesbians continue to exude the lessons they learned. Women with cropped hair, stone cold emotions, harness boots, and working jeans are sexy as hell. Women wearing dresses plunging down their backs, blush on their cheekbones, and rings in their ears are beautiful. Mi’Lady with short curly hair, androgynous clothes, and a twinkle in her eye takes my breath away. I have long hair, sometimes wear make-up, and like to sew — and I’m the butch. Don’t believe it? Too bad. Come four—whee1ing sometime with me in my Jeep Wrangler Sahara as I barge my way through bottomless mudholes. Love those mud bog boogies. “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution,” or words to that effect were spoken by Mother Jones. How many lesbian women go through their lives sad, lonely, and isolated because they cannot shape themselves to conform to the lesbian world? It isn’t freedom we’ve bought with our wills; it’s just another . prison, even if we did get to choose the color of the paint. We were co—opted, and we did it to ourselves. V MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP A 9Higlightsl Great Music. Dance. and Theatre all Year Long! . "FAL.SETTOS" Sundag, October 27, 1996 FALSETTOS SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK November 3. 1996 "KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN" January 16.'1997 MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP‘ Mag 3, 1997 Act Earlg for Best Seat Selection Save up to 25%. before Sept. 21 For a Complete 31¢-Event Season Brochure call 863-8778. For tickets call 663-5966. W5‘/'lr”1i'1’ in: musical 153 Main Street, Burlington. VT 802.863.5966 Youth & Parent Groups Join for Events . WASHINGTON DC — At the same time the AIDS Memorial Quilt is being displayed in its entirety on the National Mall, two other groups will be holding their annual conferences in the nation’s capital. 9 P-FLAG, the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, will join with the National Youth Festival sponsored by the Indiana Youth Group for a combined special event on Saturday, October 12. The Youth Group will also be sponsoring a Gay Youth March on Washington that weekend, which coincides with National Coming Out Day. The theme for this year’s march and for the IYG conference is “Free 2 B Me.” IYG, one of the largest gay—youth serving organizations in the country, supports youth in gender and sexual self—discovery. For more information about the national Conference, contact Michele at IYG at (317) 541-8726.V Activists Gather for National Conference WASHINGTON DC -- Barney Frank, the openly gay and outspoken Democratic Congressman who recently spoke in Vermont on behalf of State Auditor Ed Flanagan, will kick off the ninth annual Creating Change Conference at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia on Thursday evening, November 7. The national gathering of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered activists features pre—conference institutes and trainings on such topics as Youth Organizing, Laying Foundations for Community Centers, and Board/Leadership Development. The core conference itself will run from November 7-10. ‘ This year’s conference features the First Annual Vito Russo Memorial Lecture on Art and Politics, to be delivered on Friday, November 8, by author and poet June Jordan. The late Vito Russo, a 1989 Creating Change keynote speaker, wrote the critically acclaimed study of cinema The Celluloid Closet, which itself was recently transformed into film. Veteran organizer Carmen Vasquez, currently the Director of Public Policy at the New York City Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, will deliver a keynote address on Saturday, November 9. Vasquez, a self—described Butch-Puerto Rican-Socialist, is Co—Director of Promote the Vote, a national voter registration and mobilization project of the country’s 65 community centers. Conference attendees can choose from dozens of workshops, panels, caucuses, meetings, and small group sessions throughout the weekend. For more information or to receive a brochure and registration form, call (202) 332-6483, ext. 3329 or check out the conference Web site at http://www.ngltf.org/cc96. V K \ For confidential AIDS Information