. . . . . _ . _ _ , , , , , , _ _ _ _ , _ , _ , _ _ _ , _ _ , _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ .- FROM THE MOUNTAINS A Call For Action I, Thank you Lois, Holly, Stan, Peter, Nina, and Stacy for filing a lawsuit against the State of Vermont seeking the right to marry. Thank you Beth, Susan, and Mary for representing the three couples. Thank you members of the Vermont Free- dom to Marry Task Force for the hard work that has been done over the last two years educating Vermonters on the issue of same-gender marriage. The ‘main purpose of this letter is to ask all members and friends of our community to become involved. During the course of this lawsuit our community could come under attack by those who do not know us and fear us. There are different ways to be active. You could join the Freedom to ‘ Marry Task Force, organize a forum in your community, watch your newspapers, write letters to the editor, talk to your friends, call your representatives and senators and let them know who you are and that you support same-gender mar- riages. Not everyone agrees with the institution of marriage, but I do believe that everyone believes in the ability to choose. The freedom to marry is an individual personal choicethat should not be denied to same—gender couples. Virginia Renfrew, Warren, VT Dykebaiting and Heterosexism at the Women's Council BY PEGGY LUHRS ”From the beginning of the Women’s movement to the present day, a significant num- ber of homosexual women as- sumed the leadership in the numerous struggles and... through their energy awakened..—.the average woman to an awareness of their human dignity and rights. Considering the contri- butions made to the women's movement by lesbians for de- cades, it is amazing that the large and influential organiza- tions of the movement have never lifted a finger to improve the civil rights and social standing of their numerous (lesbian) sisters,” [I904]. Like the undead or Elm Street's nightmare, the specter of homophobia has risen from the grave to find new life at the Burlington Women's Council. The lavender menace, some- thing I thought the women's movement had finally buried, is alive and well along. with other anachronisms at the Burlington Women’s Council. I was director of the Council for 10 years and a member for at least two years before that. As director, I worked with a majority of heterosexual women as would be» expected in any women's organization. In all that time, we didn't even have a discussion about sexual orientation. We worked to- gether in an egalitarian and democratic way to create pro- grams that addressed real is- sues in women's lives. What’s going on at the BWC these days? It'd be hard to tell from Peter Freyne’s col- umn or Jennifer Matthews' pieces in Gossip or the Free Press. Her letter in Seven Days of July 30th does show Matthews’ feelings about those on the Council who disagree with her. She claimslongtime Council members ”have been sent in from the outside to disrupt...with lies, ...and gutter sniping” and calls her opposi- tion vultures and hyenas, brag- ging that she, 'the lioness, will vanquish them. The outside agents are all long time mem- bers of the BWC such as my- self, Ginny Winn, Gretchen ‘Bailey, Liz Curry, Oak LoGalbo and others. Most of the group is heterosexual. But Jennifer has focused on sexual orienta- tion to discredit the legitimate concerns of this group which are about Matthews’ attempts to subvert Council process and her practice of changing deci- sions made at Council meet- ings to suit her own and Sandy Baird's political agenda. For over a year now, Matthews has been unrespon- sive to members’ concerns I-_|——-.--,----.-.—.--—-—————.'--"1 VEFHUIONT 8 FOR Outtin themountains OR LES§Bil‘«l\_ GAY. BIESEXLEAL. i\Ni’J TFlAi~.‘S. f-JGER lSSU£3S By subscribing now to Out in the Mountains, not only will you get delivery to your I I mailbox (in a discreet envclolfie); but youalso hclpunderwrilc the costs of publiahins I I and distributing the newspaper. We welcome any additional contribuuons youcan make to I support this and other imporumt publishing projecls. Checks should made payable to I Mountain Pride Media. and sent. along with this card, to: I omu V Po. Box 177 V Burlington. Vcnnom Y 0540243??? I Name H I I eddies’ *4 . " I Town/City State I V4 Z59 : , A ’ I D One Year (:20) a Two years (335) a Low Income mo)“ in 5.... I Show yoursuppett-_-Sllbfiffibe 10407’. about decision making and Council structure. Matthews claims that BWC’s structure is the source of its problems. That structure worked for 14 years with a variety of women at the Council and numbers that sometimes were two dozen women at meetings and in later years had become about Like the undead or‘ Elm Street’s ‘nightmare, the specter of homophobia has risen from the grave to find new life at the Burlington Women’s Council. 8 half that. The Council func- tioned well and used (as its mission statement calls for) consensual decision making. Matthews is a top down type who calls for parity of power‘ for women but refuses to prac- tice power sharing at the Council. 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