Out In The Mountains : News - Openly Gay and Lesbian Candidates Campaign in VT

Openly Gay and Lesbian Candidates Campaign in VT

story and photos by Paul Olsen

      MONTPELIER - Along with one lesbian who is running for statewide office, six openly gay men and one lesbian are campaigning to serve in Montpelier next year. Progressive Martha Abbott is running for state auditor. Progressive Jean Szilva hopes to join the following Democratic incumbents; state Reps. Steve Howard, Jason Lorber, Bill Lippert and Robert Dostis, and state Sen. Ed Flanagan, in the Vermont legislature.
      As chair of Vermont's Progressive Party for the past five years, Martha Abbott is known to many Vermonters. In her first run for statewide office, Abbott faces incumbent Republican Auditor Randy Brock and Democrat Thomas Salmon. Abbott lives in Underhill with her partner Barbara Brody. As state auditor, Abbott plans to make sure "tax dollars are being spent wisely and legally."
      "Being independent of the two brand name parties, I will be in a unique position to monitor the administration and its fiscal policies," she says on her campaign website. If elected in November, Abbott would be the second openly gay or lesbian auditor in the state's history. The post was previously held by Sen. Ed Flanagan.
      Flanagan was first elected state auditor in 1992 and publicly came out as a gay man in 1995. He made history when, in 1996, he became the first and only openly gay statewide elected official in the United States. He left the auditor's post in 2000 to run for the United States Senate, making him the first openly gay U.S. Senate candidate. In that race, he lost to incumbent Sen. James Jeffords. Flanagan was elected to the state Senate representing Chittenden County in 2004 and, following his recovery from a serious car accident, is running for re-election this year.

Ed Flanagan

Jason Lorber

       Vermont's House of Representatives is also likely to see openly gay and lesbian members next year. Steve Howard, a graduate of Boston College, is running for reelection in Rutland. He previously represented Rutland Town in the Vermont House of Representatives for six years. In 1998, he left the House in an unsuccessful bid for the state Senate. He was reelected to the House in 2005.
      Democrat Jason Lorber, a nonprofit consultant and part-time comedian, is running for re-election in Burlington. Lorber's Web site highlights his legislative priorities. "We must protect everyone's rights and liberties by adopting laws that outlaw discrimination against transgender Vermonters, and we should recognize equal marriage rights for same-gender couples," he says.
       State Reps. Bill Lippert (D - Hinesburg) and Robert Dostis (D - Waterbury) are also both seeking re-election to the House. Lippert, a leader in Vermont's landmark civil union legislation, was first appointed to his seat by former Gov. Howard Dean in 1994. Dostis was first elected in 2001.
       In her first race for the statehouse, Progressive Jean Szilva would like to represent Winooski in Vermont's House of Representatives. Szilva, a former physician, faces Democrats Rep. Kenneth Atkins and Winooski Mayor Clement Bissonnette. Szilva's legislative priorities include health care, energy, the environment, livable wages, and affordable housing. "Progressives have an impressive track record in the Statehouse and I am eager to add to their voice," she says on her website. "Only with more independent voices in Montpelier do the working families have a chance to be well-represented in their state government."
       Karen Kerin, a transgender Vermonter, lost her primary campaign for the GOP nomination for Attorney General. Kerin, a civil engineer with a law degree from Vermont Law School, was born Charles Kerin and had a sex change operation after she was diagnosed with cancer and was treated with female hormones. In 2000 she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives.
       Paul Olsen is Vermont correspondent for in newsweekly.