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“Real Lesbian—vi|le”

  

HEALTH 8;
WELLBEING

V 20.5 — New Column
by Thomas Henning

  

VOLUME Xlll, NUMBER 7

. , O V ,
Queer Léaders
V BY BARBARA Dozrsros  ;_

”This is it; this is our history. It's our
responsibility to take this back to our com-
rmunity," exhorted Tim Palmer as he spoke
to the group of nearly forty of Verrnont’s
GLBT leaders. The occasion was the Orga-
nizers’ Summit sponsored by Out in the
Mountains and held at Goddard College on

Saturday, July 18.

Palmer's gift for facilitation was called

"°'°E'5 "W" iL‘§?.i§'§§°Z.agif.?§§§i'iL“}§i§.‘§f eill §‘3§."i’r‘f;
THE MTs- state gathered to discuss the strengths and %
V A-historicaj jock meaktnesses of Vernginfskqueler co:nm1r)1n_ilt‘y, E
at GLBT Pride en rainstorm an ma e p ans or m — -5
_ ing on the strengths and shoring up the weak ‘Li
spots. ‘ T g
 The list of strengths was long. Bob °‘ ‘
V out and proud Bolyard led Off. "The dedication the people Above: Organizers at the Statewide Community
In this 1'00m have to thelr Causes 15 tremen- Summit broke up into smaller groups such as this

dous." Bari Shamas spoke of the people who
are not queer, ”Some of our greatest support-

I ARTS AND ers ar: straigljit/'1 f h d d d
great 93 0 I 6? ay Was evote to Right: Tami Eldridge, Executive Director of 2
ENTER‘? INMENT an examination Of the Community's-diversity Outright VT. and Jane VanBuren, Board President 3
V Montfea '3 35 both 3 Strength and 3 Weakness-The gmup of Vermont Cares were active participants at the

acknowledged and applauded the wide
range of ages and backgrounds that make up

gay Vermont.

The group discussed the possibility of building alliances
with other minority organizations in Vermont, such as ALANA.
Peggy Luhrs of the Burlington Women's Council said, "Our en-
emies group us together; we must join together to combat them."
The original agenda for the clay included a panel discussion on

$—

i11H<E MOUNTNS

AUGUST 1998

     
   
  
  

one to discuss specific areas of concern like
communication, diversity, and resources.

summit precedings. 3;

diversity issues, but none of the panel members appeared. How-
ever, Yolanda pointed out the constant battle against apathy,

 

Gather for Summit

WWW.VTPRlDE.ORG

”Our panel didn't even show up. If we put ourselves out there
and nothing happens, what do we do?”

Specific plans of action were adopted such as a diversity
film festival, more attention to cross—minority issues in OITM
and other newsletters, and diversity workshops. The strongest

STATEWIDE, p27

99.7%

BY LENNA CUMBERBATCH

99.7% white. That's what
the statistics said. Was that pos-
sible? I took out an atlas and
when I realized that Vermont
was on the border of Canada I

‘figured it just might be pos-

sible. Anyway those stats were
from 1988 and it was 1995. It
really didn't matter much to
me really, .I mean I'm English
and I've never been used to
being in the majority like I am
in DC. Going to Vermont

would be like going home..

I guess that was howl felt
until I came out. Then it be-
came less of a "where's my
community” and more an is-

the easiest thing to find in Ver-
mont and despite the fact that
I detest DC (probably has a
little to do with my high school
experiences) I longed to go
back and finally visit Dupont
Circle where I knew I could
find some of those Bulldaggers
that I had heard so much
about.

Now it may seem ex-
treme to need to go to DC to
satisfy the need to know you're
not alone, but think about it. If
a youth comes out in Vermont
and feels alone and isolated
they eventually (we hope) find

a community that represents -

them in a multitude of ways.
But for a person of color one
important aspect of who they
are is left out, and sought vo-
raciously.

For me this need was so
important that I passed up the

almer Announ Senate Candiacy

BURLINGTON -Tim Palmer, Executive Director of Vermont
Cares, announced his candidacy for one of the six
Chittenden County State Senate seats on Monday, July 20.
If successful, Palmer will be‘ the first openly gay member in
the history of the Vermont State Senate.

Palmer has been at the helm of Vermont Cares for three
years. His professional background is one of problem solv-
ing and public policy development, with particular focus

    

eP tr  
I?Ih3té%§rj)7

ISSUQ

   

Need

It's dark in the desert
when the rain begins.

The armed saguaro drinks.
Never been there myself-—
I know it through you,
your words unleashed

in a voice so low

I have to lean into it.
You've seen a fat saguaro,
split and scarred after a storm.
They're trees, you tell_me.
Saguaro.

Your eyes are a blue

that fills me—+.-ach glance

a ring

in the meat of my trunk

that no deep carve can erase.

I'm so ready I feel you
before we touch——

sue of "Am I the 0111)’ black °PP°rt“m-ty to h°b'"°b with on the challenges of rural life. He has worked for or ad— Y0“? 5“‘m5r
dyke in the state?" And I hate some fabulous college—age vised the state Legislatures in Massachusetts, New york, your fingers,
being an example. It wasn't queers from all over New En— and Vermont your tongue-
that I needed a dating pool (al- gland, but the conference in The 48_yea1._o1d Hinesburg resident Says that he is try_ your body
though I Wouldn't mind if S°“the”‘ Maine C°"mcted ing to streamline his work at Cares in order to reduce to El‘: l3hIf0?1I>(¢‘:liiePh

there was one) and it wasn't
that my principles of
inclusivity had changed, I just
needed to know there was
someone else out there like me.

A Unfortunately that’ s not

with a Women of Color and
Allies Conference in DC spon-
sored by NOW. I wanted to go
to Maine but I knew that I

.,99T%zP?7.

usual 80-hour weeks he puts in there to allow time for cam-

paigning.
If he wins the election, he will resign from the post of
Executive Director. ’‘I think Vermonters living with HIV

* _ V PALMER, p27

tracing the grooves
to make sound.

— Cathy Resmer .

(more beginning on page