"""" "1 e t te r hen assimilation be comes more important to the gay community than taking a stand against homophobia we are in trouble. In the letters responding to my article about homophobia at the Women's Council not one addresses the substance of my article. That is because it is all factual and the letter writers have no first hand knowledge of the issues. Renfrew came to one meeting there with her mind made up before she came. None of them have spo- ken to any lesbians on the BWC. Contrary to Iudy Murphy's letter I don't name call. lNhat my piece did was list a long string of homophobic behaviors sup- ported by members of the Council. Peter Kurth, of course, has no real knowledge of the BWC but that doesn't stop him from blathering on in igno- rance for a whole page. Con- sensus decision making is not the dictionary definition of consensus and actually allows for differing points of View to be heard. Kurth must have a Crick in his neck from always ' looking down his nose at the world. His specialty is attack- ing dykes (there is no lesbian faction at the BWC) and then saying when they respond ”oh they're so angry”. Well it is annoying to have sexism printed in a paper that says that's against its editorial policy. I refer to Kurth’s infantilizing myself and Matthews for having disagree- ments. Of concern to the whole community is that the lesbian task force at NOW has made no effort to find out from les- bians on the BWC what is go- ing on. Instead they blindly defend a NOW member with no facts. Obviously this is not a task force to benefit lesbians but merely to give NOW the appearance of caring about us. Virginia Renfrew is supposed to representthe gay commu- nity. She approached, me in a hostile manner after the one meeting she attended and clearly had come only to sup- port Jennifer not to find out ‘what is going on for lesbians at the BWC. It seems political alliances have become more important than actual lesbian lives. This is a repeat of what is happening at the BWC; po- litical career concerns have Your Subscription is our lifeline. Q bscribe or renew todaglg (details on page lg) taken precedence over women. Now some in the gay commu- nity are putting political alli- ances over addressing homophobia /heterosexism wherever it exists. Towards liberation, Peggy Luhrs want to thank Peggy Luhrs (the former director of the Burlington Women's Council). I have known Peggy for many years. During that time Peggy has been a constant voice and activist for Women's Rights. Some people may say ”tactics” used in the 70s are no longer necessary, but I know that I live a much more comfortable life, because_Peggy has always pushed the edge of the circle so that there is more tolerance, respect, and acceptance within. Thanks Peggy! Nari E. Penson In the October issue of Out in the Mountains, an editorial by Chris'Moes stated that ”Ver— mont currently has waiting list for people living with AIDS to get protease inhibitors...” As the AIDS Program Di- rector for the State of Vermont I would like to correct this statement to clarify what is going on in with the AIDS Medication Assistance Pro- gram. There is QC) waiting list for our AIDS Medication Assis- I tance Program, and there has been none since March 31st of this year. More important, when the waiting list did exist (only four months) Ajll. Ver- monters needing protease in- hibitors were granted access to them through the hard—work- ing efforts of AMAP Coordina- tor Mary Pierce, who negoti- — ceutical companies to ensure OUT IN THE MouNTAl ated directly with the pharma- the drugs’ availability through compassionate care programs. No one was — or ever has been — turned away from AMAP who met the financial eligibil- ity guidelines. The reality of the‘situa- tion isthat AMAP has nearly doubled its member participa- tion during this past year, and the demand for combination therapies (including protease inhibitors). has seen AMAP’s budget leap from $60,000 per year to $450,000 for 1997. The collaboration of AIDS activists, people living with the virus, and staff at the Department of Health (includ- ing our very supportive Com- missioner of Health, Dr. Ian Carney) have made‘ a-substan- tial impact on the lives of all Vermonters living with HIV/ AIDS: for the first time in Vermont's history, the legisla- ture voted to allocate $200,000 to the medication program. This was a milestone in the rec- ognition of how much HIV has come to affect Vermont. In the future I would in- vite OI TM to include the AIDS Program in commtmity discus- sions about policies or pro- grams which affect so many of our community.AThe inclusion of misinformation only height- ens the anxiety for people al- ready dealing with more than Specializing in the Northeast Kingdom l':L.l.l‘l1ll'Lll'C, C 162 south mam st'eet ruiland, veivmonl 05701 (B02)7'/52911 lxxnopemlenliy Owned one One: NS — NOVEMBER 1997 — 3 iervices Independently Owned and Operated ' d North Ef s ° Louanne Nielsen Certified Buyer Representative ~ ~ HC_ 65, Box 2320 lm mi.‘ Albany. Vermont 05820 orrice: (802) 753-6344 Toll Free: (888) REMAXNP E-mall: lnlelsen@1ogether.net Quite Simply. . . The llIlL‘.'$I collcctiuii mt" ‘l'.1l‘l.ic:ririg 8: }\CL".CSS()l'iL”‘s in \?'cl‘lnollr Rutland House Ltd. r1s. 17304171 the heart of rnanchesler center, VI?i'l'T10l'1l (802)362-2001 from all over vermonl: (800)649-2911 (802) 878-0095 OFFICE (802) 862-1375 HOME OFFICE (800) 488-5609 TOLL FREE JACQUELINE MARINO REALTOR?’ COLDWELL BANKER REALTY MART 985$ W!Ll_lSTON ROAD W|i.[..lSTON, VT 05495 »:;lr:-ueél Br.'«.mmr W(:$i(JfL'l1llC1l All-waters lnl; enough challenges as they face Kwah Wa’Adab1 life with HIV /AIDS. Astrologer Birth Chart Life P1lfP°5C Thank Y011- Relationships Counselling Joshua Noble AIDS Program Director Vermont Department of Health . Waterfronl Holistic Healing Center ' _ _ Cornerstone Building, Suite 213 0 3 Main Street, Burlington, VT 07401 *ed. note: My apologies and I ’m glad I was wrong. 0 Letters to the editor can be sent via email: oitm@t0gether.net or snail mail: PO Box 177, Burlington, VT 05402-0177 (802) 865-2756