Out In The Mountains : News - Gill Foundation Holds Forum in Vermont

The future of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement will be the topic of a forum convened by a foundation that funds organizations and programs serving the GLBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS on Sept. 11.

“Imagine A Fully Funded National Movement For The GLBT Community” is the title of program to be hosted by the Gill Foundation at the Unitarian Universalist Church.

Bill Lippert, director of the Samara Foundation of Vermont, said the impending visit by Gill staff is exciting and ambitious. “It is a mark of the maturing of our community,” he said, “to be having a conversation like this.”

The idea that members of the Vermont GLBT community could come together and have a serious discussion about what they would do if money weren’t an object is something no one has ever seriously proposed before, said Lippert.

“They have a commitment to the national movement,” Lippert said. “They want us to answer the questions: What do we want and what will it take to get there?”

Samara has plans to conduct a thorough needs assessment of the Vermont community in the next year. This meeting, says Samara, will be a good way to start that process for his organization.

The Colorado-based foundation’s Outgiving Project has been collecting data on legal, philanthropic, anti-violence, statewide organizing, and community center or social projects in the GLBT community nationwide since early this year to test a theory of community organizing. The Five Circles Theory postulates that to be effective a coalition must be made up of five categories of people: strategist, lobbyist, media person, grassroots person, and legislative lawyer.

Georgetown University law professor, Chai R. Feldblum developed this theory on legislative campaign structure. Mickey McIntyre, the first director of the Outgiving Project, created a template for the local and national GLBT movement based on the Five Circles.

With assistance from the University of California at Los Angeles, Outgiving has collected data on the functions of the five categories within the GLBT community. Donna Red Wing, current Outgiving director, said the information will help Gill understand the state of the GLBT community nationally. “It will help us as we plan for the future,” she said. “It will help answer questions such as: Why and how de we, as a movement, give? What would a fully funded movement look like? Where should we invest resources? How do we compare to our Îadversaries?’ How do our organizations reflect our potential?”

“This project will create and test a hypothesis of where the movement could go and will provide direction on how to, as well as the impetus to, invest movement resources,” said Red Wing.

Researchers are engaged in all 50 states and US territories. In five communities, including Burlington, they will conduct deep core samplings over the next few months and hold meetings to, for the first time, share the national data. Other communities selected are Birmingham, AL; Portland, OR; Columbus, OH; and Raleigh-Durham, NC.

The Town Hall Forum in Vermont will begin at 6:30 pm and will include a light supper.

Donna Red Wing will present “A National Vision of a Fully Funded GLBT Movement” and one of the UCLA researchers will offer a look at the data state by state.

A panel of local leaders will discuss Vermont’s vision for a fully-funded GLBT movement, and Red Wing will present a current snapshot of the national movement.

The evening will also include a group discussion of Vermont’s current situtaion in the areas of anti-violence projects, community centers, and philanthropic, legal and political organizations.