2:—’ Otrr"iN THE MOUNTAINS .-'-SEPTEMBER 1999 OBITUARY: ifs‘ " '. X" Blue Lunden he people who loved Blue Lunden mourn her on August 4 I death from a brief but painful struggle with cancer. Blue, 62, a lifelong activist, devoted herself to social justice issues such as the anti—nuclear and peace movements, the lesbian and gay and women’s movements. She was jailed many times for civil disobedi- L ence. More recently, she became ,_ involved with OLOC (Older ‘Lesbians Organize for Change). In Key West, she was an active and well-loved member of the Unitarian Universalist Church, and a founder of the Paradise Club at the Key West Lesbian and Gay Community Center. She was involved in many local and global issues. Blue lived at Sugarloaf Women’s Village for the last 18 years. The community was found- ed by Barbara Deming and Jane Verlaine as a place where women could live “gently on the earth.” Women visit the village from all over the world to share their ideas, skill, projects, art, and politics. They go to replenish themselves and celebrate their lives in a place where each woman is important for herself. In the past few years, Sugarloaf has worked with HOWL, the women’s land community in Vermont, as a sister community. Blue cherished her deep relationship with her daughter Linda, of whom she was very proud. She delighted in visiting Linda, her hus- band Sam, and their son Drew. She marveled at her grandson and his willingness to share his inner life. In a recent note to Blue, Drew wrote “You’ve made my world a wonderfiil place. . .I want you to know I.am as much as I am because of my relationship with you.’.’ Blue’s broth- er Tom DuBois, with whom she had a strong bond, also suffers her D_ E num NS Health & Wellbeing I 8 Arts & Entertainment ..25 Gayity World ‘News Briefs Letters - health source...............2l the source calendar community compass....24 20 Something..............I6 Crow’s Caws.................l4 Cybershark..................29 Dyke Psyche I9 Faith Matters...............20 From the Kingdom.......29 Legal Briefs ....... ...... ..l5 Stonehengeto Stonewall .. I 7 candidates Ialie Anti-Gav Pledge coalition of right-wing organizations has asked. presidential candidates to sign a pledge saying they would not support GLBTQ efforts for equality in areas such as marriage, adoption and protection from dis- crimination. According to the Human Rights Campaign, former Vice President Dan Quayle, radio host Alan Keyes, publisher Steve Forbes, conservative activist Gary Bauer, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, and commentator Pat Buchanan signed the pledge. The group, which includes American Family Association, Concerned Women for America, and Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, placed a full- page ad in the Des Moines Register on August 13, one day before a Republican straw poll in Iowa. Among their requests were that candidates agree, if elected, to “resist all attempts to provide the benefits and privileges tradi- tionally accorded married couples to unmarried ‘domestic partners’ - as such efforts diminish the unique role of marriage as the bedrock of family and society” and to oppose any federal anti- discrimination legislation that included “special protections‘ based on sexual behavior or pref- erence.” The HRC called this the first test for this crop of presidential "hopefuls, who have so far been moderate in their stances on GLBTQ issues. Winnie Stachelberg, political director of the national gay and lesbian political organization, reminded candidates about lessons learned at the polls in 1998. “Voters overwhelmingly reject extremism and divisive, anti-gay rhetoric,” she said. — “Those candidates who embrace the far right and sign this pledge will see that while it might ener- gize one base of voters, it will be at the expense of mainstream vot- ers.” V ‘ tlenartments I Politics for Family 101: Gay and lesbian llictorv Fllllll W0|'llSll0llS I0 llll the Boat! ., articipants from around the P country are expected to take part in a national leadership training workshop for gays and lesbians with political aspirations. The Victory Training Institute workshop, scheduled for late October in Washington, DC, is the first of a series of such trainings to be held around the United States during the next year. “We are going to bring together some of our community’s most promising future leaders and give project. grant. them the opportunity to learn the nuts and bolts of the electoral process from some of our nation’s most seasoned expert trainers,” said Brian K. Bond, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Foundation. The intensive four-day skills- building workshop is designed to teach local gay and lesbian com- munity leaders about the political process and help them develop the skills necessary to active public life. V Mountain Pride Media seeks an individual to serve as WEB CONSULTANT 8t TRAINER for a one-year grant-funded The individual must be willing to volunteer approximately 150 hours over the next 12 months. A modest stipend will be provided. The Web Consultant 8: Trainer will work as a consultant, on behalf of MPM, with three partner agencies (VT Cares, Outright Vermont, and VCLGR) that expect to improve their online presence as a result of this grant-funded effort. The Web Consultant should be interested in managing this outreach effort, helping these agencies evaluate the cur- rent status of their websites, identifying achievable goals for improving ‘their websites, and working with their des- ignates to reach these goals by providing tech support and training as needed. Finally, the Web Consultant will help Mountain Pride Media in the reporting process for the The ideal candidate should have some experience with web design and enjoy working with people. If interested, please forward a letter of interest and resume to: Roland F. Palmer, Web Project Committee Chair 161 Sherman Hollow Road - Hinesburg, VT 05461-3117 or “The most outstanding profes- sional trainers and some of our community’s current office hold- ers will cover everything from vol- unteer recruitment and voter regis- tration to field organizing and fund-raising,” said Tony Esoldo, the Victory Foundation’s national training and program director. “We will address everything our select- ' ed participants need in order to swmmmmm FAMILY l0l, P4 MOUNTAIN PRIDE MEDIA was CONSULTANT SI TRAINER rfpvt@hotmai|.com WWw.vtpride.0rg