“Take Back the Trails” Group Launches National Initiative The Women's Professional Group of the Association for Experiential Education has launched a new initiative to further . commemorate and protest the violent mur- ders earlier this year of Burlington resident Julie Williams and her girlfriend, Lollie Winans. The two women had been camp- ing in the Shenandoah National Forest along the Appalachian Trail when they were brutally attacked and had their throats slit. Investigators have yet to release in- formation concerning possible suspects or motives in the case. Kim Stephani, who was greatly troubled by the women’s death, developed the idea of anationwide “Take Back the Trails” demonstration to take place next Memorial Day weekend, the first anniver- sary of the murder. “Why not spread the word and get women all across the coun- try to get out on the trails,” Stephani said while talking with her friend, Nina Rob- erts. Together, they arrived at the follow- ing goal: to get at least 30,000 women to hike, backpack, and camp in the many parks and forests around the country. Or- ganizers hope that groups as well as indi- viduals will become involved in the event. The primary motivation behind the Take Back the Trails effort is “to recog- nize the deaths, violence, harassment, etc. that have occurred to ANY women in the outdoors, and to engage in a positive and inspiring crusade towards ending violence against women in general.” "You just can’t live your life in fear," said Sandy Mara, a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. “It just doesn’t seem fair to let the criminals take even our willingness to go and do what we love the most away from us, regardless of the dan- ger, whether it’s real or perceived.” The murders of Williams and Winans were the latest in a long string of attacks against women on the trails. Both local and national gay and lesbian organizations have pressed law enforcement officials to con- sider the possibility that the murders may have been hate crimes motivated by ho- mophobia. Rumors that the bodies had been found in a sexually suggestive posi- tion fueled the rage of those who are fol- lowing the investigation. Here in Vermont, a special guest and healing sessions were planned for the 4th annual conference of the Vennont Coali- tion for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Claudia Brenner, the survivor of a similar attack which claimed the life of her partner, led a workshop on how to handle the many emo- tions which surround such traumatic events.‘ The Association for Experiential Edu- cation hopes that the “Take Back the Trails” initiative might provide one more step to- ward that goal while increasing public awareness ofthe growing epidemic of vio- lence against women. At present, the group seeks to identify potential organizers at the state level, and to contact potential sponsorsand donors who might assist in spreading the word about the project. Monetary contributions can be sent to: AEE/WPG (please write “Take Back the Trails” somewhere on the check), 2305 Canyon Blvd. #100, Boulder, Colorado 80302. To contact the group, write the address above or call (303) 440- 9334. E-mail messages should be sent to info@aee.org. V 011 by Kimberly Ward Looking at a Full Plate As the year hastens to a close, I find myself in new territory. My partner of eight years and I are in the process of a divorce, my. plate is full of new projects, many of which center around taking care of myself rather than caretaking a failing relationship, and my coming out process has risen to a new level. I’ve gone through yet another proverbial closet door, one I was hardly aware existed: the elusive “internalized homophobia” door. With the shedding of an old relation- ship, one which was full of the guilt of heterosexual privilege and the struggle to explain myself, I have found that my new task is to stay “visible” while not being in a relationship with-someone of the oppo- site gender. g The realization that it was not the people around me as much as my own in- hibitions that were keeping me from mak- ing connections in either the straight or gay world over the last few years, comes at a time when I am renewing my pledges to keep active in helping to advance equal rights for all people and to keep my own happiness a priority. But what does that mean, exactly? How do we fight against all of the assumptions around us and still maintain a personal life? I recently had a visit from a friend of mine from San Francisco. We met when I went out to attend the National'Bisexual Network’s annual business meeting. The strange thing was, I have a copy of his book ‘‘I Want My Dyke TVl” That’s become something of a battle cry for Lillian of Colchester’s community tele- vision station Channel 2, which began broadcasting the program “Dyke TV” this past fall. Now the New York-based show faces a financial crisis which will limit its distribution and prevent its free delivery to Vermont. In an effort to find the $1,250 neces- sary to keep the show on the air for the upcoming year, Lillian has begun a fund- raising campaign at the station. If she is successful, Channel 2 will be able to re- sume airing the show, and will also be able to offer the program to sister stations such as Burlington’s Channel 15. “Dyke TV” offers a varietyrof perspec- tives on lesbian life in the ‘90’s. Each show contains five or six segments and includes a regular arts and culture along with the in—depth “Eye Witness” series, which fo- cuses on issues affecting women. “It’s very political and radical,” said Lillian by way. of describing the'show. “They did a show about the daughters of lesbians, one about being a mother as a les- bian, and another about being an illegal immigrant and being a lesbian. They get things from all over the world.” As Assistant Director of the young Colchester station, Lillian devoted her own time and effort to get the show for Vermont’s audiences, and she’d hate to see it disappear just months after its arrival. The show will continue to be distributed via satellite thanks to an arrangement with Free Speech Television, “but many more people have cable access than have satel- lites,” said Lillian. So far the station has shown support for bringing the program to Vermont view- ers. “We haven’t had any trouble since air- ing it," says Lillian. “Nobody’s called to complain about it.” Contributions to keep the program on the station’s monthly schedule can be sent to CCTV, c/o Lillian, 99 Prim Road, Colchester VT 05446. For more informa- tion about the program, you can reach Lillian at 862-5724. V at home. It is one of only a handful of books for/by bisexuals out there. He worked on it years before I was ready to admit to any- one I WAS bisexual. Now, his attitude is“been there, done that.” He didn't participate in the conven- tion at all, nor does he seem to do any kind of activism, which is all a part ofour cycles of energy. Still, he seems reluctant even to talk when among friends about anything that remotely resembles an issue. It’s a clas- sic case of jaded attitude. I thought at first that it was a matter of acountry activist meeting city activist. You know, I was naive and unaware that the world was moving faster than my unin- formed mind was capable. Then, I realized, not without some prompting from some other friends in California, that he was wrong. We’ve never “been there, done that.” We’re nowhere near our goal. If it took me thirty years to be able to actually ask a woman out and not be afraid of the repercussions when I tell her I am bisexual, not lesbian, we are nowhere near being done. So, I came to the conclusion that though all of our plates are full, we should carry with us the advice of Elias Farajaje Jones (some of you may remem- ber his talks around the state this past spring) who said, “If your plate is full,-I say we must buy new plates!” I’d like a full set of china in primary colors, please, with plates the size of Man- hattan! V Forconfidenfial HIV/AIDS Information 800-882-AIDS Health Resources HIV/AIDS HOTLINES Vermont: (800) 882-2437 New Hampshire: (800) 752-2437 New York State: (800) 541-2437 Massachusetts: (617) 522-4090 Maine: (800)851-2437 National: (800) 342-2437 National TTY: (800) 243-7889 Teen Hotline: (800) 234-TEEN Addison County AIDS Network (ACAN) - 352-6679 or 388-4193 AIDS Community Awareness Project (ACAP) PO Box 608 ° St. Johnsbury VT 05819 - 748-1149 AIDS Community Resource Network (ACORN) PO Box 2057 - Lebanon NH 03766 (603) 448-2220 or (800) 816-2220 Bennington Area AIDS Project PO Box 1486 - Bennington VT 05201 - 442-4481 or (800) 845-2437 Brattleboro AIDS Project PO Box 1486 - Brattleboro VT’ 05302 - 254-8263 or 254-4444 (Helpline) Comprehensive Care Clinics (for HIV/AIDS) Hotline: (800) 763-2460 Brattleboro: 257-8860 Burlington: 656-4594 Rutland: 747-1831 Gay/Lesbian Alcoholics Anonymous PO Box 5653 ' Burlington VT 05402 - 658-4221 Lesbian Cancer Support Group 660-8386 Men’s Health Project see Vermont CARES listing National Association for People With AIDS - (202) 898-0414 North Star Holistic Health Care RR2 Box 3255 ' Morrisville VT 05661 - 888-2858 Vermont AIDS Council PO Box 275 ° Montpelier VT 05601 229-2557 Vermont CARES PO Box 5248 ° Burlington VT 05401 ' 863-2437 or (800) 649-2437 PO Box 6033 - Rutland VT 05702 775-5884 Vermont Department of Health AIDS Program Office: 863-7245 AIDS Hotline: (800) 882-2437 Vermont HIV/AIDS Education Network ° 862-1668 Vermont People With AIDS Coalition ' PO Box 1055 '. , Brattleboro VT 05302 ' (802) 257- 927 or (800) 69-VT—PWA Vermont Women’s Health Center 336 North Avenue - Burlington VT 05401 - 863-1386 December 1996