WILB HQ75 .0971 Ilapp y Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, christmas, and Solstice!) / lV.ERMONT'S FORUM FOR LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER ISSUES \ o. VOLUME XII, NUMBER” 9 ‘. UT IN THEMOUNTAINS Decémaerz 1997 FREE nside OITM FEATU RES: 7 LGBT High school students organize for education 21 David Curtis named chair of Democratic Party SECTIONS: 14 arts & entertainment 18 health & wellbeing MONTH LY COLUMNS: 3 around vermont 8 letters to the editor 4 voices from the mountains 6 faith matters 9 the source 10 news briefs 18 resurrecting the body politic 19 dyke psyche TH E FUN N l ES: Ethan Green — 4, 7 DTWOF—21 Curbside — 11, 20 State Files Blespon, The attorney general’s office used some pretty curious - language when it asked a Chittenden Superior Court judge to throw out three couples’ lawsuit seeking the right of gays and lesbians to marry. Many of the arguments Attorney General William Sorrell’s office made in its 65- page filing were predictable. One of the chief points the state made was that the issue should be settled in the Legislature, not the courts. ”The social policy debate of whether to allow same-sex couples to marry should be addressed to the state's most democratic institution:’ the Legislature,” the state said. ”That body is uniquely suited to assess the appropri- ateness of social change through legislative hearings and debate,” it continued. ”It has the capacity to examine the hundreds of laws relating to marriage, marital status, child custody and family issues and determine which would be af- fected by an expansion of the definition of marriage.” But the reasons it gave for some of those arguments raise the specter of homophobia. Some examples: —— ”Reading the mar- riage statutes to encompass same—sex unions would lead to the incongruent result of al- lowing adoptive sisters to marry but prohibiting male and female adopted siblings from marrying.” ”The (Supreme) Court's rulings have noted the direct links between marriage, sexual intercourse and procre- ation. Indeed, even today, physical incapacity remains a ground upon which a marriage be annulled.” ATTORNEY GENERAL, back se to Marriage Suit photo Mari-Beth Delucia Keynote Speaker Karen Williams "Lauglrs About Sex..." and other things at the 5th Annuzzlil/CLGR Conference. 300+ GLBT Vermonters Converge on Rutland for Town Meeting BY DD TAYLOR-GARCIA On November 8, queer folks from around the state gathered at Rutland Regional High School for the fifth an- nual Our Town Meeting. The Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights, which orga- nized the conference, chose for this year's theme, ”Our Fam- ily Reunion: Embracing All Shades of Lavender”. Indeed, Rutland High had probably never looked more like a fam- ily gathering. Riot grrls could be seen gossipping with VCLGR, p23 Healthy Vermonters 2000 Misses. the Point BY BENNETT LAW hat are your primary health care concerns as a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered person living in Vermont? Some that I*ve posed this question to have suggested our persistent need for a single-payor health care sys- tem. Others have mentioned protection against HIV transmis- sion, addressing the challenges of sustaining health as a person living with AIDS, the increased incidence of certain forms of cancer in women who do not bear children, and relieving the stress and anxiety confronting youth coming of age in a homophobic environment. Healthy Vermonters 2000 is the blueprint that the Vermont Department of Health is following in addressing the health needs of the citizens of Vermont. First established in 1991, this report is periodically updated to monitor the state*s success in achiev- filed ~ ing a healthier population. mont This year, the Office of Minority Health of the Vermont ships Department of Health, under the direction of ‘Public Health Spe- Iicens cialist Lauren Corbett, established a glbt task force with the aim seam ‘ of securing input on the needs of our community to the Healthy such : Vermonters 2000 plan. The task force was empowered to make coup] recommendations to Vermon_t*s Commissioner of Health regard- Harr ing the appropriateness, inclusiveness, and weaknesses of the Farm 2000 plan in addressing health needs specific to the glbt com- of M munities. Through a process that has drawn its share of critics, Stacy the Department recruited a gay man, a lesbian, a bisexual man — in and a bisexual woman, and a transgendered man and a dgbati transgendered woman to represent our community on this task spans force. Gene . The task force was plagued by a number of problems over Iutions the course of its five meetings between June and October. The the 5 Office of Minority Health came under fire for the lack of geo- the 9;] graphic distribution in the composition of the task force, and for the narrow focus introduced by securing single representa- tives from each of the identified segments‘ of the glbt commu- nity. Attendance of most of the six representatives was poor: nboziel i hre Out in the Moimmins 1'r1tL’rviews, profiling the couples irzvolved. each other.. That to me said %E;$ eight years. They moved to Vermont in April of 1996, fol- lowing a brief stay in, North PLAINTIFFS, p22 ' .. HEALTHY, baclt