I-icl. station.-riana9er=. . . .
Memseri henna Cnaabematcit 
, ‘ Office‘ Manageri‘ Tracy Kommons ‘ ‘

’ classistrxen

  

  

7 ;(i.’e, rebmarv ?,0lh,iorttie‘Maroh 

3 We encourageand
'/t0'(l,0 ,whai%jthe' I
2 paper wi1tch,truly-represents
, volcesof our commodities.‘ I

2 — OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — FEBR\UARY 1998

     

 

. Christopher 

- Business Manager: Steven est 5 

rt‘Maneger§"Donald Eggert R
David Grist

~ °Advertising_lganager: David Gramling

],Brafll,s_t; Deborahfcloutler Fowler L L
.. ; computelreseupportz Amy Hoffman
_ii..li1't.9!!1¥ Gwynn Guilford . 3 . 1 y
*7 Contributors: Mil<i‘l'homas,; Kimberly. , B
7A. Ward, John Hannah, Michael C;
‘ Albero, Crow Cohan,:’Flev.iChrlstine .
Leslie, Peggy Luhrs, Paul Olsen, Beth
Robinson. Susan Murray, Esther.

Rothblum, Kathleen, Katina, Steven
Kopstein, Sharon Randall, Michael

—Woodhouse,:John Beyer, Joy Griffith, »

Christine Desrosiers,vErika Goldstein,
Diane Shamas, Steve Stowell, Barbara

Dozetos

01/Ii/7 0‘78M01//718/l16‘(lSSN 1081-5562)
is published monthly by Mountain Pride
_ Media, lnc. i The newspaper maintains
otfices at 109 South Winooski Avenue
in Burlington, Vermont; Our mailing
address is PO Box 177, Burlington, VT
05402-0177. Our email “address is
oltm@together.net and our website is

located at http://www.vtpride.org. The '

subscription rate is $20 per year within
the United States of America.
©1997, 01/tin 1/7e Mot//713/'/rs

Mountain Pride Media
Board of Directors
Liz Campbell, Margrlt~Dutta, Joy
Griffith, Nat Harrison, Steve Kopstein,
Kathie Sawyer, Ross Sneyd, Deborah
Lashman, Lanny Jones, Cheryl Carmi,
Donna Freeman, Roger Mapes '

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of Out//7 we Moun-
/a/hsis to serve as a voice for lesbians,
gay men, bisexuals, transgendered

.. people, and our supporters in Vermont.

We wish the newspaper to be a source
of information, insight, and affirmation.
We also see OITM as a vehicle for the

celebration‘ of the culture and diversity -
ofthe lesbian,’ gay, bisexual, and » I
’ transgendered communities here in

Vermont and elsewhere,

Editorial Policy
“ We will consider for publication
any material which broadens our under-

standing of our lifestyles and of each. ,
other.‘ Views and opinions appearing in ,

the paper doriot necessarily represent

. those of the staff. ~ This paper cannot
’ ~.an£iwlll.tiot endorse anycandidates or . I

. «actions of public officials  issues of
,lmportance,to lesbians, gay men, bi-y ,
-.$extials.ari<l vans9endé!ed,Pers¢nsJ 
, . r , '_’ Vllefreserve the rightnot to pub¥.,7,
it-fish anyrnaterlal deemed to be overtly ,
r iiilllfix '399lSl»,.;* .
.0r>h°bic., 9r.h6mophob1¢- 9 1'
. . . aka, _

     
 

A racist, sex:

‘.91“‘l-°'l"° . .

 

onth prior to nionthol 

 

 

‘Materials should be sen oz 7
I Out in the Mountains " *
PO Box 177
Burlington, VT 05402-0177 _
phone: (802) 865-9294
email: oilm@together.net

OITM now available in
braille format!
Contact Chris Moes
at (802) 865-9294 for .

more information.

  
   
    
 

EDITORIAL:

ls Anyone Paying Attention?

ccasionally I'll come across someone from the city,

Boston, NY, or Sa'n Francisco, who will find them

selves in Vermont for whatever. reason. And some

times this person will act as if they have landed in
some remote place where queers are invisible and horribly op-
pressed by a lack of options for night life. They will be surprised
to see two men or two women holding hands on Church Street,
or the rainbow flag bumper sticker here and there.

The irony is of course that VT, while a rural state has far more
protections than either NY or California. We don't have Gover-
nors hostile to our community (clueless, but not hostile). We have
a Republican senator that sponsors ENDA, despite the lack of a
Log Cabin Chapter within his own state. In Vermont we still are
the only state with domestic partner benefits for state employ-

ees. We have the only statewide openly gay elected official in‘

the country, as well as a number of other visible openly gay of-
ficials. (We have for years.) To put that in perspective, just this
last year, Virginia, New Hampshire, and Ohio all had there first
openly gay elected official—Ever.

Recently, the N] supreme court said that the state cannot dis-
criminate on the basis of sexual orientation in adoption. An event
that both the gay and main stream press covered pretty exten-
sively. In Vermont this had already happened, and same sex
parent adoptions are almost common place in our community.
Beth Robinson pointed out to me that she doesn't mind the lack
of attention that we get in the movement. It has so far kept the
religious right out, and kept at bay most of the backlash that
comes with advances in rights. She does have a point.

Why is it that no matter what Vermont does we don't get any
attention? One reason is population. With somewhere over half
a million people, the mayor of Philadelphia has more constitu-
ents than Howard Dean. Presidential candidates don't campaign
here because no election has ever really hinged on our 3 elec-
toral votes.

But the real reason I think, at least the more interesting one is
that the GLBT culture in the United States is almost entirely ur-
ban. It is how our community came into existence. Gay people
found in the city a community of people like themselves. I too
did the same thing, I moved to Boston and came out. I found a
culture that I belonged to, people I could _identify with— hell,
people I could date. People still move to large cities to be among
others like themselves, and all of our organizations are based in
these cities.

But the urban gay culture revealed itself to have some serious
drawbacks. Urban culture at its heart has anonymity, coldness
and attitude. I have always longed for a more rural experience,
but at the same time want the mindset that is present in the city:

 

progressiveness and culture.

This is why Vermont is unique. There is no other rural area where
you will find not only a community, but an absence of hostility.
We are not there yet though. There are still threats of violence,
still 21 Nancy Sheltra and still pockets of fundamentalism. We
still have unsafe schools, domestic violence, alcoholism and a
myriad of other problems. We have other problems Urban cul-
ture doesn’t have: Geographic isolation, a lack of visible com-
munity in some more rural areas, a lack of available informa-
tion of where to get help when needed.

A huge thanks should go out to everyone that helped with the
OITM benefit, and to the brave souls who came out dcspitefall-
ing trees and unreliable electricity for the benefit on Idnuary
9th. Many thanks to Steph Pappas Experience, and Yolanda
and the Plastic Family as well as ourfricnds at Club Toast, and
Seven Days for thatfabulous plug. For those who didn't make
it, don't worry we will do it again. Preferably in the spring.

l"""""""""""""—"""""""""|

: Out in the Mountains I
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rang  pleasure, consider Lhi
Vermont. but we we not immutil
transmitted diseas