.‘ _ . - ) 11);‘ vrir - :1.‘-~_» t» . .. \ -\(' ' 6 — OUT IN .-"..r‘;.=.:—.%i‘«":= .<' THE MoiJNTAtNs — JULY 1998 "I bu_v all my stuff at the t‘t‘:u‘t‘ &_lusticc Stmc, wlictt‘ clsL"."' »I..its. D'l‘\\-‘OF g ‘Feast 8'. Justice Store 2| Churth St..Budin::1(uI 863-8326 Ojzcn'll)a_\‘s 260 North Alain Street Barre, VT 0564] Jewelry Repairs Custom Design Fine Handcrafted Jewelrv ’ phone: 802-4 79-1 4 96 . . z 11 .- 877-55 7-7236 Patricia Palumbo V to free Designer ~ Jeweler email: pat@jewelers—bench.com web: http.'//jewelers-benchcom Quite Simply. .. Tlic liIlt‘.\i C(,>il(‘k'li‘..‘ll wt‘ l-'umimrt:, (lmpcting & 2'\CCC5a\‘l)l“-ILIK in \'c1'mt>nt Rutland House Ltd. rts 1‘."3O ~ ifl the heart of manchester center, \v:tr.'nor‘.t L'802)362~20(J“t 182 south man-. skeet »'u'.!=_m:,‘-. ve'mcrit 05701 [B02}7l5>2‘3l1 gpjwj gs; from all over Vermont: (80«’J)S49»2911 * * phat-nirising* . - spirited jewelry & gilts - ridewas terrific. I spent P the entire day meeting great people. Many of them were queer parents and their beautiful kids. I collected names and addresses of many who want to connect with oth- ers. It was at once an energiz— ing and exhausting day. The consensus seems to be that we need to concentrate on building localized groups before we attempt anything on ‘a statewide level. Several people showed interest in a newsletter of some sort and a few of us even put our heads together and came up with a working name for the effort. How does Rainbow Families of Vermont strike you? , Courtney, my nine—year- old, spent the day playing with anyone who stopped at her tarp to join in. There were bubbles — more than a gallon of solution used up — and yard games and I even threw out the "no guns” rule to allow water guns of several sizes. It was just too hot to say no. The kids made new friends and entertained the adults as well as themselves. I chatted with a couple of the Pride committee members about setting up something more organized for the kids next year. We'll hang on to the toys and bubble blowing equipment and build on that for Pride 1999. The day was terrific and loads of fun. I want to thank the Pride committee for their efforts. I can't remember when I've had a day that was so much fun and so productive at Sharing Pride with Our propriate accompaniment for our mutation of the scene from To Wang F u where the three stars bop to "Brick House” in their convertible. We've yet to inspire a trainfull of business- men to join us, but I digress. To Courtney's chagrin, I paused at a news report long enough to hear that yet another senator has spoken out in sup- port of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott’s asinine statements about homosexuality being a sin and something for which we need help. Talk about bursting our bubble. I let out a frustrated yell that led Courtney to ask for an expla- nation. How do you explain to a child of nine, whose heart and mind is open, that one of the most powerful men in our gov- ernment thinks her mother is a sinner and needs treatment because she loves and is com- mitted to another woman? Fol- lowing my usual policy, I told her just like that. She got very quiet and the urge to sing and party left us both. ' Later I asked her about it — how she felt when she heard something like that. "It makes me mad." I'm thrilled to say that there was no hint of shame in her. She knows better. A Then there's Pat Robertson who makes hair- brained comments about hor- rible natural disasters befalling states that show tolerance for queers. How can anyone think that a loving queer family can damage a child's psyche but not see the danger in subject— ing children to the rantings of small minded so—called Chris- good thing, period. Here I go again, preach- ing to the converted. My point here is that we have to shore our children up against the unenlightened. We needn't teach them to be afraid of or hostile toward them, just con- fident. Many of us are afraid to come out fully lest our children be teased at school. This atti- tude only teaches the kids to be afraid and to feel that there is something to be ashamed of. Why pass along the fear to the kids? Studies on the subject have shown that children of queers get teased about their parents’ sexuality no more than about other typical kid stuff and they come out of it with no more long term emo- tional trauma than children of straight parents. We don't give our chil- dren masks to cover their freckles to keep them from be- ing teased; we teach them to love the way they look and who they are and to ignore the taunts of those who pick on them. Why not instill in them the Pride that we felt this weekend? Let’ s teach our kids about who we are from our point of view before they hear another version from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. Give them the support and ammunition they need to cope now and in the future they'll be able to stand up to the Trent Lotts and Pat Robertsons and Jerry Smileys of the world. , . , . ., - the same time. tians like these? Pro en is a monthl column - Sunday nightl was driv- The God my daughter cusgtgzn queer families. If thfiroe ._ Wm M“ ing home from the weekend in knows is much kinder than Mr. is a topic you would like to see ' ‘ Burlington, still high from the Robertson's or Mr. Lott’ s. Her covered or you want to be added wonderful experience on Sat— God exhorts her to love every- to the mailing list contact Barbara l04 main street, one light up monlpelier 802.229.0522 urday. Courtney and I were one and judge no one. The God Dozetos at wordsrus@together.net * searching the air waves for ap- we know tells us that love is a or through OITM. 1 LITTLE uucomrorraste... 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