First 0 ivi I

BRATTLEBORO _ T
Hunter Wilson helped to write
a piece ofAmerican history on
July first.

"By the authority vested in
me by the state of Vermont, I
now declare youjoined in civil
union," Wilson, ajustice ofthe
peace, declared shortly after

midnight.
And with that, Carolyn
Conrad, 29, and Kathleen

“K.P.” Peterson, 41, became

' the first same-sex couple in

America to become legal
spouses in the eyes of the law.

Later that day, the sun rose
and the sky didn’t fall. The
launch of civil unions, besides
granting gay and lesbian cou-
ples all the rights and benefits
of marriage, generated nothing
more than a lot of media buzz
and more loud complaints from
opponents.

Volume XV, Number 7

Photo: Bari Shamas

   
 
   

   
 

__.
;4.

Unions Clé‘l-eirraétedti

    

Just after midnight on July 1, Carolyn Conrad and Kathleen Peerson

  

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9

-2-

became the first couple to become legal spouses under Vermont’s civil

union law.

That’s pretty much how it’s
gone throughout the first
month of the civil unions law.
The first weekend, which coin-
cided with the long 4th of July
holiday, only a dozen or so
town clerks were even open to
issue civil unions licenses.

Among the first to get their
license were Lois F amham and
Holly Puterbaugh, who were
plaintiffs in the lawsuit that led

to the Legislature’s enactment -

of the law. v ‘

iitéififéfixafi

Town Meeting to be Resurrected

BY BARBARA DOZETOS

One of Vermont’s oldest
organizations for lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender peo-
ple is asking for help from the
community to coordinate a
statewide meeting.

After a year’s hiatus, the
Vermont Coalition for Lesbian
and Gay Rights will host the
2000 Conference/Town
Meeting at the Vermont
Technical College on October
21.

“We didn’t do a town meet-
ing last year. and people keep
telling us how much they
missed it." said VCLGR co—lia-
son Virginia Renfrew. The
i998 meeting was held in
Burlington on the campus of
the University of Vermont. The
small crowd attending disap-
pointed the organizers, so they
opted not to hold a 1999 event.

Paying close attention to the
feedback the organization
received from the 1998 confer-
ence, Renfrew said she was
careful to check the communi-
ty calendar before booking a
date. The Randolph location is
as central for the state as possi-
ble, so travel will be about
equal for everyone.

In the past, the conference
has been a day filled with

workshops, exhibits by com-
munity organizations, and a
community forum known by
most as the Queer Town
Meeting. Renfrew anticipates
basically the same set up for
this year, but says those kinds
of decisions will be made by
the planning committee. The
Gill Foundation OutGiving
workshop slated for the same
day will be one of the work-
shops offered at the confer-
ence. (See story on page 2 for
more details.)

The VCLGR is looking for
community\members to serve
on the planning committee and
to help out on the day of the
event

Renfrew is asking for help
from the members of the com-
munity in designing the struc-
ture and content of the event.
The 1998 meeting drew very
little advance input from other
people. " A very few of us
ended up doing most ofthe last
one, and many people weren’t
happy with how it turned out,”
said Renfrew. “We really want
lots of people involved in mak-
ing this one happen,” she said.
She is particularly eager to
have youth involvement.

“There couldn’t be a better
year for our community to
have a town meeting,” said Bill

Lippert, the executive director
of the Samara Foundation of
Vermont and a member of the
Vermont House of
Representatives.

While VCLGR acknowl-
edges that the passage of the
civil union legislation has ener-
gized the Vermont GLBTs,
they don’t intend to have the
conference focus solely on that
subject. “There are a lot of
things people want to see cov-
ered,” said Renfrew.

VCLGR membership has
languished in recent years. The
group hopes that the renewed
energy they‘ve seen in the
community this spring will
carry over to this event and fur-
ther so that the organization
can restructure and rebuild its
membership. “l’m committed
to sticking with this until a new
group — the next generation — is
ready to take over,” said
Renfrew.

‘T he cost of this year's con-
ference will be $25. 00 per per-
son, although no one will be
turned away for lack of funds.
The first planning meeting will
be held at the oflices of Zatz
and Renfrew in Montpelier at 7
pm on August 22. V ‘

.5.’ Q - 43> ‘:3. August 2000
‘~., 4%» *9 '

E MOUNTAIN,

wwwmountoinpridemedia.org

outright Faces Attacks

BY DOUG EBELING

“I think you might find this
one helpful,” said Keith Elston
as he directed a determined-
looking college-aged woman
to a book on coming out in a
small lending library.

It was a typically busy after-
noon in the crowded down-
town Burlington offices of
Outright Vermont, an agency
set up to address the needs of
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and
queer young Vermonters. A
short time later the phone rang.
Elston, the organization’s
executive- director, rushed to
answer, and then spoke calmly
and quietly to a teenager from
central Vermont about the
youth group’s meetings and
activities.

The youth group meets in
the comfortable, sunny
“XandO” room painted in
bright colors, full of the smell
of poster paint and markers.
This room, used as a lounge
and meeting space, is crammed
full of furniture and is located
just beyond a small work room
containing a couple of older
personal computers and lots of
art supplies. Freshly made
posters from recent gay pride
events adorn the walls.

This resource for Vermont
youth has recently been under
attack as angry opponents of
the civil union law target orga-
nizations serving the GLBT
community in Vennont.

“They are offering informa-
tion that homosexuality is
acceptable and normal,”
Stephen Cable, president of an

Youth served by Outright Vermont icip n th annual Youtide
march in May, as well as the Pride Vermont parade each June.

anti-civil unions group called
Who Would Have Thought,
Inc, charged in an article in the
Rutland Herald in July. “That
hurts many, many people of the
evidence shows that it’s a
destructive behavior.”

David Ayer, a Barre School
Board member, and Rep.
Nancy Sheltra, R-Derby, have
also been making angry noises
about Outright in recent weeks.

The most frequent charges
seem to be that Outright is try-
ing to “recruit Vermont youth”
and that Outright “asks people
to come out,” according to
Ayer. Ayer and Cable say that
they “sympathize” with
the”plight of gays and les-
bians” and do “not want to be
perceived as intolerant.” They
are “concerned” and “have
homosexual friends,” both told
the Herald.

Those charges are largely
based on presentations the
group makes around the state.

Outright offers two distinct
and separate presentations. The
first is described by Elston‘ as
“Safer Schools’? and is focused
on diversity issues, harassment
response and prevention, and
homophobia. This is the only
set of programs presented at
schools.

Elston stressed that the pre-
sentation is tailored to the age
of the audience. A group of
teachers and administrators,
for instance, would hear a dif-
ferent presentation than would
a group of eighth graders.

Safer Schools programs are
only presented if Outright is