! /l 5‘ letters UITM, Pl] Box 1078, Richmond, III 05477-1078 or oitm@togetlIer.net Kudos to Henning and Emond Editor: The paper looks GREAT! My subscription lapsed a while ago, so I’ve sent in a renewal. The whole thing is ajoy to read and a wonderful service to our commu- nity. I’m delighted that Charlie Emond is doing the history col- umn. Right on Charlie! And I ask for advice. I received a solicitation to fund the NGLTF “equality begins at home” campaign. I would like to fund this on the local level rather than filtering funds through the national organization. Please advise if there is an avenue to support Vermont activities for that week. Thanks. Please forward these thoughts to your highly talented Thomas Henning. Dear Tommy World - Thanks so much for your great piece on the holidays. I am so much reminded of David Solaris’s (sic) work in your storytelling that I propose you do a collaboration with him - kind of like “Queer Chronicles” where you quiz each other about past experiences and reflect on each other’s tales of woe, joy, love and compassion for this strange-but-true exis- tence we live. In any case, keep up the fine writing. I am always entertained, challenged and delighted by your work. John Tidd Bridgewater Corners, VT Comments for Sheets and Sanders Editor: I saw and was quite unsettled by the article by Morgan Sheets in your December issue. V‘ [Morgan,] if the truth be (known, BiNet USA has been having a lot of trouble with inclusion on the HRC front and I was disturbed by the lack of mention of trans and bi issues in your article. Not because I think HRC is doing anything that is truly inclusive in deed, but because I know you are aware that gay and lesbian are not the only issues at hand and was surprised you did not take care to be inclusive in your lan- guage. - HRC has been paying more lip service than anything to being inclusive. Bend your ear to the HRC pavement for me and find out if I am just not on target with this. In a recent ‘supportive’ letter on trans issues, HRC called an f to in trans person a man. In the whole discussion on the millen- nium march, HRC has not been cooperative, nor have they been in contact with many of the peo- ple they claimed were supporting their march. Even though HRC has signed on to be an ally to BiNet USA, they did not sign on to our rebut- tle ad for the gay ‘conversion’ ads the religious right has been running. This is enough to make me leery. More has gone on that has put me off completely. I just ask that you keep an ear to the ground and hope, as a bi Verrnonter, I can rest assured that there is a Vermonter looking out for my interests as well while you are down there. ' It [also] concerns me greatly that Skeeter Saunders is not checking his statistics with his glorious rants against the machine. Though I think it is good that SOMEONE is addressing the issue at the root of all of this ‘right to marriage’ struggle, whether marriage itself is a lesser of two evils or not, I would urge you to check your authors when they submit articles with sup- posed ‘statistics in them. Where did he find the stat on violence being higher in married couples then in others? I had addressed this very question to him before he submitted the article and he said he really didn’t remember, but would check. And remember, Skeeter, we all have a right to build our lives as we wish, so if you propose that we abandon same sex marriage, give us a better altemative. Give generously and give details! Kim Ward BiNet VT,_BiNet USA Invitation to Bland Editor: I am responding to Bob Bland’s letter in the December 1998 issue of OITM. It is unfor- tunate that Bob decided not to attend the conference this year. It would have been great to have his input in the planning of the . conference. I started asking for input for the October conference in April. In July, the VCLGR board had to make a decision about whether to have the confer- _ence at all, because NO ONE from the community responded to our requests for help in the planning. I committed to plan- ning it, because I felt it was an important event. ' As you may all recall, the organization TIP put a flyer in every newspaper in Vermont in _March - members of the commu- nity were outraged. I decided that the conference needed to address this issue; after all, we are Vermonters, too, despite the claims to the contrary by TIP. As a result of the lack of plan- ning support, I basically coordi- nated this conference on my own. Considering the fact that I work a fi.1ll-time job, I would have we!- comed any help I could get. I thought the conference went well. We did have workshops on family and marriage, but there were also workshops on using the web to stay’ in touch, youth, growing old (which we will all do), dealing with homophobia, money, health, and bisexuality. If the planning and coordinat- ing energy is out there, as Bob claims, where was it last sum- mer? The mission of this confer- ence is not only to bring our com- munity together; it is also to raise money for VCLGR so that we may better serve our community and address the issues of concern to us. Two years ago the confer- ence lost money and this year we broke even. Perhaps more involvement in the planning and generation of ideas would have led to a different result. VCLGR is looking forward to this next year and to, possibly, another conference. I will be sure to put Bob’s e-mail address inqmy address book. He will be one of the first people.l contact to help with the planning! Virginia Renfrew M VCLGR Co-Liaison - Out In the Mountains welcomes your letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit letters for length. See editorial policy for additional guidelines. W W ‘’ !°Vl!3£lEl.,§;.§3£..$..,.. OUT IN THE OMOUNTAINS, — JANUARY 1998 — 3 Every batch made from scratch... Sweet Rolls ' Muffins ° Granola Bars Cakes ' Cookies — including low-fat, naturally sweetened & vegan selections And Bread Too! BAKERY OPEN: M-F 6-6 Sat 8; Sun 6-4 Bridge Street Breakfast Mon-Fri 6-11 Richmond Brunch Sat & Sun 8-I 434.3148 Lunch Mon-Sat 114 fieéutwcg 12-14 V¢57sz.4.._ :—-—-A WOMEN’S and «slag; in pzduate accammadatiana in ‘Uemumt. eamweezgm .‘Dinlw't ‘wliizoepaal all flu $275/couple RICHMOND 0 434-2037 Accolade Group Internet Publishing Cfiec/{ Out Our New ‘We6 {Page Design 802.859.8972 olb@villagetrade.com www. vi llagetrade. com/accolade I By» subscribing now to Out in the Mountains, not only will I you get delivery to your mailbox (in an envelope), but you also help underwrite the rising costs of publishing and dis- I tributing the newspaper. We welcome any additionalcon— I I tributions you can make to support this and other important I publishing projects. Checks should be made payable tol Mountain Pride Media, and sent, along with this card to: I : OITM, PO Box 1078, Richmond, VT 05477-1078 I I Name .... ..-. ....................................................... .. I I Address ........ .; ............................................... ..-. I I Town .................... ..State .......... ..Zip .......... .. I I I3 1 year ($20) D 2 years ($35) Cl Low income ($10) I I D Contribution $ e_;_'_’___‘_.._.._‘_.‘.'_.J I" L THE SPAVT@AOL.COM J Subscribe Today.’ i