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VOLUME XIV, NUMBER 02

MARCH 1999

WWW.VTPR|DE.ORG

Community Takes Concerns to Montpelier

I Visibility Day Sees
Pink Triangles Under
The Golden Dome

BY ‘MAXWELL STROUD

MONTPELIER, VT On
February 16, 1999, representa-
tives from gay and lesbian orga-
nizations, individual citizens, and
allies from all over Vermont con-
verged on the State House for
Visibility Day. _

Congregating in front of an
information table and display of
portraits of gay and lesbian fami-
lies, members of the LGBT com-
munity were informally wel-
comed by the Speaker of the
House Michael J. Obuchowski
and House Majority Leader John
Tracy. The legislators spent better
than a quarter of an hour address-
ing the questions and concerns of
those present.

Answering a student’s ques-
tion about discrimination in
schools, Speaker Obuchowski
reaffirmed a commitment ' to

equality when he stated,
“Discrimination is an everyday

issue, and we cannot tolerate dis- ~

crimination on any level.”

From the floor of the house
chamber, Representative Bill
Lippert of Hinesburg officially
recognized the presence of indi-
viduals from the Vermont
Coalition for Gay and Lesbian
Rights, Outright Vermont,
Vermont Freedom to Marry
Coalition, Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays, Spectrum
Youth Services, the Rainbow
Business Association, Golden
Threads, and the Champlain
Valley- Union Gay/Straight
Alliance, and Out In The
Mountains. '

LGBT citizens got a quick les-
son in civics from Keith Goslant,
co-liaison of Vermont’s Coalition
for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
Encouraging everyone to meet
representatives, Goslant remind-
ed the group that an anti-same-
gender marriage bill could soon
be in Vermont’s legislature.
Lippert, who currently sits on the

judiciary committee, stated his

(Left to right) Vermont Speaker of the Hous Michael Obuchowski (Bellows Falls) and House Majority

holo Maxwell Stroud

in

     

../

Leader'John Tracy (Burlington) spoke with members of the GLBT community at Wsibility Day.

commitment to malsiefsure that the
“anti-marriage bill stays where it
belongs — in the filing cabinet
and not on the floor of the house.”

High school students repre-

senting gay/straight alliances

from Champlain Valley Union.

High School and St. Johnsbury
Academy located their represen-
tatives and expressed concerns

around safety, discrimination in
access to school facilities and
other issues affecting their lives.

VISIBILITY, P24

photo Maxwell Stroud _

Wallflowers

or
Wildflowers?

Vermont CARES held its 4th
Annual Winter is a Drag Ball
benefit on February I3 at
Higher Ground in Winooski.
A record-breaking crowd of
nearly 500 attended.

Carolyn Ashby of Middlebury —
(left) and Thomas Henning
(r), one of the organizers of
the event, traded gardening

9 and beauty tips in between
photo opportunities.

THE DRAG BALL ALBUM
CONTINUES ON PAGES 6, 25

Center Organizers Beginning

to Build Community
I Burlington RUIZ? to Hold First Supper

BY DAVID GRAMLING

an dishes, witty conversation, and a photographic journey through
the history of Vermont’s gay community. Now imagine pouring
them all into a space of our own.

That’s exactly what the people working on the Burlington RUl2’?
Community Center would like to do. _

The fledgling center’s planning committee hopes to raise aware-
ness of its efforts — and build a sense of community — with its First
Supper event during Equality Begins at Home week.

Scheduled for Saturday, March 27, at Burlington’s Radisson Hotel,
the dinner offers a chance to collectively consider and celebrate the
origins, achievements, people, and places of theVermont queer com-
munity. lt’s also an opportunity to make friends, relax, break bread,
and dream up uses for the new center.

Planners are currently dealing with the practical issues of center
creation, including investigation ofgrant and incorporation, searching
for a site and collecting suggestions for space use.

Center organizer and North End resident Don Eggert feels that “the
vision of the Burlington RUIZ? Community Center is to bring us
together, look at where we come from, and where we’re going. lt’s

I magine combining tempting vegan, vegetarian and non-vegetari-

lll.llEl?,l F24