IWILB HQ75 .0971 3 o letters V lERMOl\|T'S FORUM FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSCENDER issues VOLUME Xll, *l$il_;y\sER 7 .- i P‘ in5ideO|TM 4 state i‘fi’hijlj.aisgers BY l3ENNETT'li_I21y5il\Il\l 5" 4 - voices from the , PROVINCETOWN, MA — m 0 u n ta I n 5 Prayer ribbons adorned~the ocean side of the Boatslip, site of Provincetown’s legendary tea dances, on Saturday morn- ing, September 6th, for the 10th annual Swim for Life. This 1.4 mile (108 lengths of a pool) open water swim is a fund- raiser benefiting six Provincetown agencies: Provincetown AIDS Support Group, PWA Coalition, Unitar- ian Universalist AIDS Ministry, Helping Our Women, Family Tree Project, and The Art Ar- chives. Over the years a number of Vermont swimmers have 5 o the source 6 - domestic violence in same- sex’ relationships 10 - arts 8: entertainment 11_ o nOe|'s new phase is - DYKE PSYCHE: what is lesbian sex? Courtsldeseats: Lois Farnham and Holly Puterbaugh a conversation with Vermont’s most- famousplaintiffs BY CHRIS TEBBETTS O n July 22, Stan Baker and Peter I-Iarrigan, Nina Beck and Stacy Jolles, and Lois Farnham and Holly Puterbaugh, filed suit against the state of Vermont and their respective townships after being refused marriage licenses. This is the second of three Out in the Mountains interviews, pro- filing the couples involved. I Discussing their current lawsuit against the town of Milton and the state of Vermont for civil marriage rig_hts,'~I-Iolly Puterbaugh and Lois Farnham are at turns polished and spon- taneous. They show the practiced response of plaintiffs who have been well briefed by their attorneys; and theyalso com- plete each other’s sentences, laugh together and use each other’s memory to search for answers to certain questions. A In the lawsuit, Farnham and Puterbaugh are the faces of long—term Vermonters, and the longevity of their relationship shows in the way they interact. They are also the oldest of the plaintiffs and at twenty five years, have been together the long- est. Theyvshare a home in Milton, where they run their Red Shovel Christmas tree farm in addition their individual careers. Holly, protective of her family's privacy, says she is from ”some- MEET THE PLAINTIFFS, p14 UT... IN THE MOUNTAINS OCTOBER 1997 - agencies |Osel”§uppOrt to Out of participated in this event. The Swim for Life is popular with competitive swimmers, as it is sanctioned by the US Master's Swimmers Association, and participants can use their offi— ' cial time in this event to help them qualify for later swims. Most of them are more than happy to raise, or pay, the $150 registration fee. But some are exceptional fund-raisers, carrying literally thousands of dollars collected from their families, friends, neighbors, and business asso- ciates here in Vermont out of state. Susan Aranoff of Mont- pelier and Gracie Johnston of Benson raised over $1,000 each for the 1996 Swim for Life, and Johnston collected over $2,750 for the '97 Swim. For the second consecu- tive year, Johnston's determi- nation made her the third high- est fund-raiser at the Provincetown Swim. Johnston tapped her connections in the local Rotary Club, and believes she reaches people who wouldn't otherwise contribute to AIDS causes. ”Most of them are conservative white males, who wouldn't otherwise get hit’ up for things they consider ,V.,e2rm,oiiit:-AIDS Money Goes Soth Zora, daughter of Shelley Smith Meredith Tredeau, ”walks”in FREE Montpelier's AIDS Walk '97 to benefit Vermont CARES. gay—related.” Despite her obvi- ous success, Johnston declared, ”The swim is cold, but the hardest thing is raising the money.” But the whopping $2,765 that Johnston alone raised for the Provincetown charities this year is well over half of the $4,800 raised in to- tal by over 100 walkers in Rutland County's AIDS Walk '97, which benefited Vermont CARES. When potential sup- porters hesitated to contribute money for distribution out-of— , state, Johnston requested con- tributions in support of her participation in Rutland’s AIDS Walk ’97. She readily admits, though, that it has oth- erwise been hard to raise funds for the AIDS Walk, as support- OUTSIDE AIDS BENEFITS, p9 crossings of the English Channel Cheryl El insky (center) rests with father and partner after a successful 0. Vermonter Crosses Channel BY BENNETT LAW BRATTLEBORO — In 1875, when a swimmer first crossed the English Channel, it was thought this amazing physical feat would never be repeated. This past July, Cheryl Elinsky of Brattleboro became the very first Vermonter to swim the English Channel, completing a 30 mile crossing of the cold waters separating Dover, En- gland from Calais, France in 14 hours and 20 minutes. And that's one long, COLD swim. In an attempt to preserve the purity of this in- credible athletic achievement, Britain’s Channel Swimming Association, founded in the 1950's to regulate attempted crossings, does not allow the use of wet suits: In participat- ing in what Elinsky describes as ”the only major athletic feat ELINSKY, p19 Gay and Lesbian Employee Groups Formed at IBM BY JAMES IVIONTSTREAM n February of this year I IBM announced that em ployees in the US may now form Diversity Network Groups. The purpose of these groups is to focus on network- ing, mentoring or coaching, ‘and community outreach for a single diversity constituency. Since the program was first announced, 26 diversity net- work groups have been ap- proved. These groups cross several geographies and repre- sent a variety of IBM employee constituencies. Among the groups that have been approved is EAGLE for IBM Employees. EAGLE stands for Employee Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Empow- erment. EAGLE’s mission is to support gay and, lesbian em- ployees by promoting a safe and open work environment. EAGLE, p7