8 — OUT IN THE MOUNTAINS — JUNE 1998 C1‘§§“§irieds Illlllllllfl for... OFFICE SPACE NEEDED Out in the Mountains is looking for a new home. We need new space at a bargain price. Any leads are appreciated. Call Chris at 865-9294 or Barb at 388-8298. Email oitrn@together.net Disabled Lesbian Activist Artist Author living in Jamaica Plain (Boston), Mass. seeking woman to live-in to do housekeeping Mon.-Fri. mornings, learn personal care, and carry beeper to provide emergency personal care backup if a regular personal care ‘assistant is ill. Free room in big Victorian house with garden, close to public transportation, resident parking. own entrance plus cable TV PLUS $1 ,000lmonth CLEAR PLUS $100l day it called in for backup. Drivers license req. Non-smoking, strong, light-sleeping woman preferred. One year minimum commitment. Will train. (617) 524-0921. WOMEN TO JOIN INTENTIONAL COMMUNTTY on 50 beautiful acres of land trust in Huntington. Low expenses, pond, farmhouse and barn, sauna. Land is paid for. Seeking mature, caring women of any race or age. Inclusive spiritual orientation a plus. FMI: HOWL 434-3953 T l am interested in joining a sofball league for fun. I‘m a 50 yo looking to fullfill a lifelong dream. Please let me know if you hear of any lesbianlwcmyn's teams. thanks. Jeanne C. 222-9090 My partner and I are interested in vacationing at a ‘Dude Ranch’ out west — Colorado, Wyoming, Montana - Does anyone know of one owned or run by wcmyn? We also have friends wh would like to work at one. Thanks. Jeanne C. 222-9090 SEEKING RIGHT LIVELIHOOD: smart, organized, thoughtful, gentle lesbian needs gain- ful employment. I can help you get organized. Which closet do you want to tackle first? Reasonable rates. Local refs. Upper Valley preferred but will travel. ODYSEA 603-298- 8224 email: odysea@quest-netcom ||Vln!] Sltllatllllls Gay Male Roommate Needed Share 2 bedroom, 6 room house in Shelburne. Secluded, large lot. $450 + 1/2 utilities. Security deposit/credit checkl 1yr. lease. Leave message at 9859158 or speak to Dick. Boulder Lesbian seeks Burlington-area Writing Retreat. I'm looking to swap apartments or find an inexpenstive one month sublet in the Burlington or Queen City Park area during late August, September or October 1998. Apartment or home need not be fancy: just clean, quiet and safe. My apartment is small but sunny, in an old house with lots of lesbian neighbors, near the mountains and pedestrian mall. Leave me (Ellen) a message at the computer lab where I work 3035463587 or email me at eorleans@aol.com.— Housemate wanted. Wonderful fannhouse in Monkton. Dyke seeks some kinda queer to share home with me and my dog. Other pets or kids welcome it we all get along. Large room. semi-furnished. Beautiful setting, large yard. 30 mins to Burlington or Middlebury. $300 plus. Call 4535370 or email HankVT@aol.com. real estate HAND BUILT CABINIRUSTIC HOME on 10+ private acres in Jonesville....only 19 miles from Burlington. Gas lights and fridge. No electric. Outdoor plumbing. Two heat sources. J Charming well insulated space for single person or couple. $54,000. interested call Kris @ 862-9431 or Glo @ 434-3953Cabin and Land Year round rustic cabin on 10.27 wooded acres in guildhall, VT. 35 minutes East of St. Johnsbury. Cabin is newly finished this fall, no electric, well insulated, on a year round well maintained gravel road. Has low taxes, very private, and safe. $28,900. call Teri Anderson (603) 788 5530 1 Urban Gardener’s Haven - Heabd sunroom, large sunny living room, one bath, two bedrooms, and a garden full of perennials, herbs, blueberries and dwarf fruit trees. $97000. F, Call Susan at 865-0436. ' Vl||Il|ItBB|‘8 ‘ Help needed. GlitterlRhombus Gallery need help tuning the video projector If you are ‘ handy with electronics (not the battery operated kind) — the Rhombus Gallery needs you. The equipment is a BARCO Video projector from the mid 1980s. \bur time would be - greatly appreciated and may be considered an in-kind donation for. tax purposes. Call Mark Awodey 865-3144 or 865-9063. ' . OITM is looking for advertising representatives sell ads for Vermonts fastest growing Newspaper. Full or part time, no experience necessary. Must be self motivated, person- able. Does not need to live in Burlington. FMl call 802 865 9294. Barre, 24 GF single attractive. Enjoys laughing, dancing, going out, and spending quiet evenings at home. Seeks intelligent, attractive, outgoing 22-30 GF who likes kids. Friendship and possibly more. CKK, 33 Green Acres, Barre, VT 05641. I am a gay white male, 21 years old, bedroom brown eye;s and thick brown hair, 61‘, 180 . pounds, muscualar body. Looking for a mature man, 35 or older. Friendship maybe ‘ more. Victor Co||ett#124804 KSP PO Box 128, Eddyville, KY 42038 My name is Cindy. I'm a transgender. I’m not on hormones, yet. Desiring trusting, loving, tender individual who is open-minded and ready to touch each other’s hearts. Im 45, 5‘10", 157 lb. and I must be treated as a woman. Male or female may respond. Only those that feel they’re worth loving should communicate. Soulmate, 31 Brooklyn St., Apt. _2 Barre, VT 05641 4 GWM. 50, blulblo, 230, 5'8". ISO GWM 4055 for friendship, possible LTR. Live in So. VT. Interests include: swimming, movies,.restaurants, quiet evenings at home. Any race OK. Smokers OK. No drugs! Contact: Bob. POB 222, Brattleboro, VT 05302, or call (802) 258-2340. OlTMs Classified section features items for sale, housing opportunities, Personals, help wanted and the like. As a new service to our readers Individuals may place ads for free! Donations are welcome and encouraged We reserve the right to refuse ads. Responding or placing ads is done atan individuals own risk. Ads mustbe received by the twentieth of " the previous rironlii.‘ IPla'il‘ao' "copy and" opfiorratdonatioir io'P0 807: 17? Burlington VT’ . 05402 or email it to 0ITM@logether.net. We must have full name, address and phone number to run ads, however information will be ke r confidential. LEGAL BRIEFS A Call to Arms: civics 101 And Your civir Rights BY SUSAN MURRAY AND BETH ROBINSON emember those civics classes in high school? The lessons about the framers of the Constitution (probably described as the ”Founding Fathers"), democ- racy, and the separation of powers? For those of you who have repressed those memo- ries, along with remembrances of homecoming and senior prom, a quick primer: Our state's and our nation's founders rejected the concept of a pure democracy because they realized that un- der a system of unrestrained majority rule, people in the minority would be vulnerable to persecution by popular ma- jorities. To protect against the dangers of unlimited popular government, the framers of our constitutions adopted protec- tions for certain basic civil rights, which even legislative majorities could not override. They also developed a system of governmental "checks and balances” by providing for a separation of powers— includ- ing a strong and independent judiciary to guard against leg- islative or executive impinge- ment on constitutional rights. Although the system hasn't al- ways lived up to its promise, independent courts have fre- quently served their purposes: among other things, courts have stood up to strong legis- lative majorities to abolish ra- cial segregation in schools, in- trusive laws limiting access to contraceptives, and, more re- cently, state run, male-only schools. Don't feel bad if you've forgotten all of this, or you never actually "got it" in the first place. Apparently, you're not alone. Republican guber- natorial hopeful Bernard Rome, and some other Repub- lican leaders, have reportedly reopened the long-settled de- bate about the separation of powers with their attacks on the judiciary, just in time for election ‘season. (Fortunately, - at least some of Mr. Rome's Republican colleagues, includ- ing Senator Barbara Snelling, have properly criticized Mr. Rome's attacks on the judi- ciary.) _ Under the Vermont Con- stitution, the legislature has an opportunity to evaluate each 1 Supreme Court Justice every six years and vote on whether the Justice should continue in office. The Vermont statutes 3‘ outline the factors the legisla- ture has historically considered in the retention process: integ- rity, judicial temperament, im- partiality, health, diligence, le- gal knowledge and ability and administrative and communi- jcative skills.,_This coming term, all’ five of :Vea'marrtts Supreme: CourtJustices are up for reten- tion. Mr. Rome and others have pledged to use this judi- cial retention process to re- move three Supreme Court Justices— Justices Dooley, Morse and Johnson— from the bench, not because they lack integrity or ability, but because these politicians don't like some of the Supreme Court’ s decisions (especially the Court's decision in the Brigham school funding case, which led the Legislature to pass Act 60 a few months later). Mr. Rome's position is ironic, since two of the five Jus- tices who decided Brigham, and most of the Court's other decisions in recent years, were Republican appointees— hardly the sort of ”runaway liberal activist judges” that conservatives fear. Regardless of how you feel about Brigham, or any other decision of the Supreme Court, this sort of attack on the independence of the judiciary threatens us all. How can any of us rely on a strong and autonomous. judiciary when politicians dangle the threat of non-reten- tion before the Justices as they adjudicate important dis- putes— especially disputes about whether legislative ma- jorities have gone too far? How can g / 1/ b / t/ q Vermont- ers, and others who differ in some way from "the majority,” trust that the scales of justice will be balanced in cases affect- ing our fundamental rights when elected officials are breathing down judges’ necks? This isn’t just an abstract civics issue; our constitutional rights— everyone's constitu- tional rights— are on the line. Please, stay informed, and let your candidates and elected officials know that Vermonters won't tolerate overzealous at- tacks on the independence of our Judiciary. Susan Murray and Beth Robinson are attorneys at langrock Sperry 6’ Wool in Middlebury, Vermont whose practices include employ- ment issues, fizmily matters, estate planning, personal injury and worker '5 Compensation cases, and general commercial and civil liti- gation. This column features timely information about legal is- sues of interest to our community. We hope to provide information about important laws and court cases that may aflect our rights, aswell as practical nuts and bolts advice for protecting ourselves and our families. If you'd like to see us cover 11 particular topic, please feel free to write OI TM or call us at 388-6356. SAM looks back on 17 years of service and fun continued from page six bers, Robichaud made the de- cision to terminate the group. "1 think in the early years, the group was very viable and was doing a significant service to the gay people in the area. It’ s a lot easier to zations like SAM. While the group has been a major part of Robichaud’s life for many years, he realizes that it is time to close the doors of SAM. "When you do it month be gay now than it was eighteen years ago. Times changed and . the needs changed.” Now in the age of elec- tronics, gay men no longer feel as isolated as they once did. With on- line chat rooms, per- sonal ads in al- most every c o m m u nit y n e w s p a p e r, and the al- ways present bars, there are, perhaps, more When you do it month after month and V there are only four to six people, and they don’t contribute anything... you begin to wonder what you are doing. For me it was always important enough just to be with my friends in a nice place where I could be comfortable talking with them. That was enough for me. I didn’t need anymore; but apparently, for a lot of people, that isn’t enough. 0 p t i 0 n s t h r o u g h which to meet others than ever before. Just as Robichaud stated, ”People ap- parently have formed their after month and there are only four to six people, and they don’t contribute anything"). 1 own secret groups,’-"and: t-l’tere‘- ‘-you begin torwonder what.-you no longer is a need for organi- are doing. Feantipgjgdwasigilt