AUTUMN Travel [I396 35 100% MIIIIE llvlies to Watch out For llatle 25 FOI‘lllBI' Bllllllf talies Illfl l’llSllI3aI'I and I‘lIllS llllllfl 32 wu.a HQ75 .0971 UT IN THE NTAlNS VOLUME XIV, NUMBER 05 New Community - Standards for Same-Gender Custody Disputes new publication by an A ad hoc alliance of LGBT legal and family-orient- ed organizations is offering guidelines for handling child custody matters when a family breaks apart. The recommended standards are contained. in Protecting Families: Standards for Child Custody Disputes in Same-Sex Relationships. Originally written by Boston-based legal group Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders with local parents, attorneys, mediators, and thera- pists, the final project includes contributions from Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, Family Pride ‘Coalition, and Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere. The standards aim to address the increasing prevalence of con- troversies .— inside and outside the courtroom — about whether particular family members can maintain a relationship with their child when the family separates. The problems stem from the law’s elevation of biology over actual parent-child relationships. Regardless of the actual _role a person plays, most established law does not recognize as ‘par- ents’ those who are not related to a child by biology or adoption, as is the case with may gay and les- bian parents. In addition, since there is no divorce process to constrain the strong emotions that often accompany a break-up, some birth and adoptive parents who have the impulse to cut off the relationship between the children and the former partner succeed in doing so by claiming a superior legal status. “Sound judgment is often clouded by the strong emotions that accompany break-ups. It causes terrible lasting injury if the children and adults are per- manently torn apart at that unfor- tunate moment,” said Mary Bonauto, GLAD’s Civil Rights Director, “The law fails lesbian and gay families by not helping them regain a more level-headed STANDARDS, P7 the ACLU" Ex-Awareness Week Trou esyavt I Discrimination Charges Filed with Vermont Human Rights Commission BY BARBARA DOZETOS JERICHO CENTER -— A Ver- mont high school has been charged with discrimination after it cancelled a diversity awareness event that was to include a pre- sentation by GLBTQA youth agency Outright Vermont. Chittenden East Supervisory Union, the governing body of Mount Mansfield Union High School, faces charges of commit- ting an unlawful discriminatory act in a place of public accommo- dation. Students say they were led to believe by administrators at the high school in Jericho Center that an ex-gay deprogrammer should also be invited to participate in the presentation. Since Outright Vermont has a policy of nofengaging in debate with ex-gay ministries, it declined its invitation and sug- gestedthat the appropriate forum for the issue the school had raised would be a panel concerning reli- gious responses to homosexuali- ty. Outright’s Executive Director Tami Eldridge said, “We recom- mended a list of local GLBTQ affirmative clergy.” According to Eldridge, Outright then contacted a group ' ‘.AJUNE 1.9EfF15~ ‘I P WWW.VTPRlDE.ORG ‘'7 I I llllount Mansfield Union 3' 5 hoto Max Stroud “Go Ask Alice” about this year’s Vermont GLBT Pride Day on june l9th in Burlington. Jamie West (right) got some help serenading the crowd Karaoke-style at the Pride Committee's silent auction fundraiser at ]eff’s Maine Seafood in St. Albans on May I6. of approximately 70 supporters from the community surrounding the school. Many" contacted school administrators in an effort to educate them on the subject of conversion therapy. ' Eldridge also forwarded a comprehensive package of infor- mation about Outright, its educa- tional programs, and ex-gay reparative therapy to Joseph Corsaniti, Mount Mansfield’s assistant principal. In the midst of this controver- sy, administrators cancelled Awareness Week, which had been scheduled for the first week of May. On April 21, Nat Harrison, whose son Abram is the student council president, a mem- ber of the school’s Gay Straight Alliance, and one of the Awareness Week organizers, filed the charges of discrimina- tion with _the Vermont Human Rights Commission. In his written response to the charges, Chittenden East Superintendent Gail Conley claimed that the cancellation was due to lack of preparation and organization on the students’ part as well as conflicts with manda- tory tests and spring break. At a public meeting on May 3, many members of the student body and faculty said this was MMUHS, PIO Legislative Hits, Near Misses and Bullets ‘MONTPELIER — This year’s session of the Vermont General Assembly was significant to gays and lesbians both for what was enacted into law— and what wasn’t. . Three significant bills were approved and forwarded to the governor, whose staff said he planned to sign them: an expand- ed hate crimes statute, a law authorizing needle exchange pro- grams, and a system for the unique identification of HIV cases. Meanwhile, a proposal by Rep. George Schiavone (R- Shelbume) that would have for- bidden same-sex marriage was I never taken up. hate-crimes The statute enjoyed wide support and will greatly expand the ability of vic- tims to get relief. Basically, the law would give, hate crime vic- tims the same rights offered to domestic violence victims. For example, the attorney _ general will be authorized .to go to court on behalf of a victim to seek a relief-from-abuse order, as well‘ as compensatory and punitive damages. Violation of the injunc- tion would be a criminal offense. The hate-crimes law itself was further amended to protect peo- ple based on their gender identity, as well as sexual orientation. Backers hailed the legislation regarding needle exchange pro- grams was as an important step to help prevent the spread of HIV through the use of dirty intra- venous needles. Although the bill did not pro- vide for any state-backed needle exchange programs, it authorized private plans by exempting any needle exchange program from the laws preventing the posses- sion and distribution of drug paraphernalia. ‘Adding to HIV protections, the legislature also passed a pro- gram for identifying those with the virus by a unique code rather than using their names. The Health Department pro- posed a reporting system based on people’s names. But advocates and the federal Centers for Disease Control called for the unique identifier because it Still to Dodge encourages testing by protecting confidentiality. Access to anony- mous HIV testing has proven to increase the number of individu- als who seek HIV testing by guaranteeing the privacy of test results. Although those three initiatives passed and were victories for the lesbian and gay community, Schiavone’s bill limiting marriage to unions between one man and one woman still poses a threat. It remains alive for considera- tion when the Legislature recon- venes in January for the second half of its two-year session. By that time, it is expected that the Vermont Supreme Court will have given its ruling on gay mar- riages. V '