Community Compass
Community Compass is a service of OITM. GLBT organizations from around the state are invited to provide brief — 200 words or less — descriptions of recent or upcoming activities and events. Send your submissions to us by email by the 15th of the month.
Mountain Pride Media
Mountain Pride Media would like to extend our gratitude to the Board of Directors and staff of Samara Foundation of Vermont for awarding us a grant of $4,000 for 2001. Samara’s continued support of our mission to develop and strengthen the community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) Vermonters, through the development and maintenance of communication vehicles has been key to our continued growth as an organization. Mountain Pride Media continued to celebrate Out In The Mountains 15thanniversary in June. We would like to thank everyone who joined us for our 3rdAnnual Founder’s Celebration with a very special thank you to Bennett Lawfor hosting the event at his home in Bethel, VT. Thanks also to everyone whostopped by to see us at Pride 2001 in Burlington. Congratulations to our three“Outfit” Pride 2001 raffle winners. The winners will be“styling” in their MPM baseball hat, rainbow rings pin, and 15thanniversary OITM tee shirt while reading their one-year subscription toOut In The Mountains. If you would like to subscribe to Out In The Mountains or purchase any ofour Mountain Pride Media apparel, you can do so online by visiting our web site -www.mountainpridemedia.org. As part of 30 Days Of Pride, Mountain Pride Media hosted an open house on June19th. We would like to thank The Daily Bread Bakery and Jeff Walt for doing apoetry reading in conjunction with our open house. Specials thanks to JustinBarton-Caplin who organized the poetry reading and open house. We would alsolike to thank Alan, Denny, Euan, Roland, Dan, Stephen, Elizabeth, Stina, Mack,Jim, James, Michael, and Bennett for stopping in to help with the June Out InThe Mountains “stuffing”. Our August issue “Stuffing”Night is scheduled for Thursday, July 26th from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at our officesin Richmond, Vermont (above The Daily Bread). Please join us if you can and helpget Out In The Mountains out into the community. Mountain Pride Media would like to applaud Bennett Law (president) and KevinMcAteer (Fundraising Chair) for their amazing dedication and work over the past 3years. Both Bennett and Kevin retired from the Board of Directors in June. Wewould also like you to join us in welcoming two new Board Members: Tom Anoe ofRutland and Esther Rothblum of South Burlington. We are also pleased to welcomeMack Roark as the new Art Director of Out In The Mountains. Finally,congratulations to Mountain Pride Media’s new officers: Carrie Rampp(President), Roland Palmer (Vice President), Jim Petrie (Treasurer),and DanBrink (Secretary). NLGJA Vermont The Vermont Chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association madeits public debut at the Pride festivities in Burlington on June 16, two daysafter receiving a $500 grant from the Samara Foundation of Vermont for start-upcosts. Barbara Dozetos is interim president of the chapter pending full elections in thefall. In the meantime, the group is planning its web site, which will be aresource for local journalists, as well as a means of disseminating informationabout the chapter and its activities. The chapter is planning a panel discussion exploring the coverage of minoritiesin Vermont in conjunction with the journalism department of St. Michaels Collegein Colchester. The group will meet for brunch on Sunday, July 8. See the calendar for details. The NLGJA works within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage oflesbian and gay issues and opposes newsroom bias toward gays, lesbians,bisexuals, transgender people and all other minorities. The nationalorganization’s web site is www.nlgja.org. Anyone who supports the missionof NLGJA is invited to attend events or join the organization. Look for theNLGJA listing in the Source under Professional. Pride VT Many big thanks to everyone who attended and organized June’s Pridefestivities and variety of events. The support and coming together of ourcommunity was truly a sight of beauty and inspiration. Thank you. The Pride VT Committee will be meeting Tuesday, July 10 and invites any and allfolks to attend and evaluate this year’s festival and schedule of events. Refreshments will be on hand. This will be a great way to get involved early andprovide feedback. For information on the location and time of the meeting, pleasecall Brian at 802-373-2237 or check the website at www.pridevermont.org R.U.1.2? Community Center Last December R.U.1.2? responded to a great need in our lesbian, gay, bisexual,transgender, and questioning community of Vermont by starting a “ComingOut” support group for adults. The group meets the second and fourthThursdays of every month at the Peace and Justice Center (21 Church St.) inBurlington from 6:30 - 8 pm. The group is free, confidential, open, and ongoing. Among other things, it is a place where people can feel comfortable to questiontheir sexual identity, access resources, build friendships, and find supportwhile they are coming out to long-time friends, family, and co-workers. If it were not for Nancy Ellen Brownsword M.A.C.P. and Sean May M.S.W. therewould not be a support group to speak of. These two committed R.U.1.2?volunteers have worked tirelessly in the creation and implementation of this muchneeded program. Nancy Ellen is very excited by the support group’s success. “Sean and I leave every group feeling elated. The group provides awelcoming and supportive environment for people who may not be sure where theyfit. That can be a very scary place. I see the group as a gateway for people tostart to work through issues of coming out and get connected to the LGBTQcommunity.” The group is not only serving Chittenden County, but manysupport group attendees are traveling more than an hour from Washington,Franklin, and Addison Counties as well as the Northeast Kingdom. Although things are going very well, R.U.1.2? plans to put a lot of energy intothis program in the coming months. There are a variety of ways that members ofthe community can get involved in the coming months. We are looking for groupfacilitators who would like to take on the role of leading support group fromtime to time. Please contact us for an application. One of the challenges ofrunning a support group is getting the word out to the right people! R.U.1.2? islooking for people to help with the promotion of this valuable program. We arelooking for several people to develop mailing lists, press releases, and put upposters in locations around Vermont. Beginning August 9, the support group will be moving to R.U.1.2? Headquarters onthe Burlington Waterfront. If you have any questions at all, please feel free tocall 802-860-RU12 or email thecenter@ru12.org. For directions to HQ, a listingof volunteer opportunities, and information on becoming a donor check out our website at www.ru12.org. Samara Foundation Samara Foundation announced that four Vermont high school seniors will bereceiving $1,000 scholarships for 2001. The Samara Scholarship was establishedin 2000 as an investment in the future of Vermont students who opposediscrimination and prejudice and who stand for the elimination of homophobia inour society. Samara Foundation would like to thank the members of the Samara ScholarshipAdvisory Committee for all their hard work and dedication: Natalie Brennan,Dummerston; Chris Chambers, Lebanon, NH; John Crane, White River Junction; PamMacy, Lyndonville; Roland Palmer, Hinesburg; Tom Robinson, Colchester; B.J.Rogers, Shelburne; Susan Sussman (Chair), Middlesex and; David Wales, Winooski. In addition to the four scholarships, Samara also awarded grants totaling $30,000to fifteen Vermont organizations serving the GLBT community (please seeaccompanying article and our ad in this issue for grant specifics). Samara wouldlike to thank the Grants Advisory Committee for the time and effort put intoreviewing and evaluating the grant proposals: Maggie Hooker, Montpelier; HowardRussell (Chair), Hinesburg; Mary Alice Schatzle, Starksboro and; RichardWizansky, Guilford. Samara Foundation is committed to diverse community involvement in our grantmaking process. Community members interested in participating in year 2002Grants Advisory Committee should call the Samara Foundation office at802-860-6236. Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force July 1 marks the one-year anniversary of Vermont’s civil union law goinginto effect. This month alone, 117 Vermont couples — from 71 towns and all14 counties — will celebrate their first anniversary of being joined incivil union. Their love and commitment have enriched our society. The sky hasnot fallen. For many, the sun is shining brighter than ever. Nonetheless, the civil union law was under assault in our legislature Januarythrough May. Words such as the following were spoken on the floor of our VermontHouse again this year: “Homosexual acts compromise health and well-beingthrough interaction of uncomplimentary and dissimilar organs constitutingbehavior that is both disordered and unnatural” (May 23, 2001, Rep. CarlHaas, Rutland). H.502, a civil union repeal bill, (narrowly) passed the VermontHouse. The backlash is far from over. We MUST continue to increase publicunderstanding, which in turn reduces fear, which will pull the rug out from underthe backlash. Everyone can play a part: the magic is LOTS of one-on-oneconversations. With the generous help of the Samara Foundation, we’ll be atthe fairs all over Vermont again this summer, with a new look — hope to seeyou there!