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 welcome our two newest board members: Diane Miller of Richmond and Justin Barton-Caplin from Montpelier.
Mountain Pride Media still has a few tickets left for the special benefit performance of Moises Kaufman’s “The Laramie Project” on Friday October 5, 2001 at 7:30 p.m. This play will be making its New England premiere at the University of Vermont’s Royall Tyler Theatre. To find out more about this amazing show check out UVM’s Department of Theatre web site at www.uvm.edu/~theatre/Pages/CurrentSeason.html.
Seating is limited so contact Roland Palmer at 802-383-7679 or 802-482-2550, or e-mail him at rfpvt@together.net to reserve your tickets. Tickets are $20 per person with the proceeds being donated to Mountain Pride Media. Only tickets purchased from Mountain Pride Media for the October 5th performance benefit MPM. We hope you can join us for this wonderful evening of theater!
Each month, Mountain Pride Media acknowledges the individuals who help get Out In The Mountains out into the community. This month we send out our thanks to Roland, Euan, Joel, Dan, Daryl, James, Michael, Stephen, Dustin, Garrett, Woods, Elizabeth, and Stina who came to the July “Stuffing” Night. The September “Stuffing” will be on Thursday, September 27th starting at 5:30 p.m. at our offices above The Daily Bread in Richmond, Vermont. Please feel free to stop by and say hello and help out.
We also would like to thank our distribution volunteers who deliver papers in the community each month. Applause for Dan, Roland, Carolyn, Thomas, Rob, Melissa, Heather, Moon, Brian, Patrick, Bennett, Pam, Leroy, Keith, Richard, Danny, Jason W., David, Steve, Rich, Daryl, Anthony and Donna. These dedicated volunteers make sure that Out In The Mountains is delivered at distribution points in Vermont and New Hampshire.
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association
NLGJA-VT is taking a month off from its brunches as many members head to Dallas for the national convention.
OITM’s own Joel Nichols and Patricia Robinson were chosen to participate in the student internship project at the convention. Under the supervision of professional journalists from major news outlets around the country, Joel and Pat will help to produce a daily convention newspaper, Web site updates, as well as radio and television spots. Chapter President Barbara Dozetos and member John Scagliotti will also be attending the convention.
In conjunction with St. Michael’s College, the chapter is planning a panel discussion to take place in January. The topic will be news media coverage of minorities in Vermont. Panelists will include representatives of several minority communities, as well as journalists.
The NLGJA works within the news industry to foster fair and accurate coverage of lesbian and gay issues and opposes newsroom bias toward gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and all other minorities. The national organization’s Web site is www.nlgja.org. Anyone who supports the mission of NLGJA is invited to attend events or join the organization. Look for the NLGJA listing in the Source under Professional.
Outright Vermont
After nine years on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington, Outright Vermont, the state’s only organization serving GLBTQ youth, has moved its offices and drop-in center to a new location right around the corner from the King Street Youth Center at 187 St. Paul Street. An open house will be held during our regular drop-in hours on Tuesday, September 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. All community members are welcome to attend. The new space is fully handicapped accessible, offers free parking and remains in the downtown Burlington neighborhood with easy access to public transportation.
Outright’s fall semester programming begins with the Open House on September 4, and continues with a discussion of transgender youth issues on Tuesday, September 11. They will also offer movie nights, community organizing workshops and opportunities for participation in a number of youth leadership development programs around the state. In addition, Outright will continue to offer its regular Friday Night Group for youth 22 and under from 7 to 8:30 pm every Friday evening in Burlington. October will see the start up of “The Outpost,” a new Friday Night Group offered twice a month in Montpelier.
For information on how to get to the new space, to be put on our community calendar mailing list or to make a donation, please call Outright at (802) 865-9677 or 1-800-GLB-CHAT.
R.U.1.2? Queer Archives
In October 2001, the Vermont Queer Archives at the RU12? Community Center will be presenting an exhibition marking National Coming Out Day. With generous funding from the Samara Foundation, we are able to exhibit materials from the collections of the Vermont Queer Archives, along with the coming out stories of Vermonters. In order to do this, we need your participation — bring us your stories, your memoirs, your essays, your anguish, your chotchkes. Still have that old corsage from your first Pride Prom and don’t know what to do with it? How about that t-shirt you wore when you came out to your mom that says “I’m not gay but my boyfriend is”. Whether it was pleasant or painful, we want to know what it was like to tell your friends and family. If you haven’t come out yet let us know why.
All materials can be submitted anonymously. Email us at archive@ru12.org, or call us at 860-RU12 (7812) and let us know that you have a story to tell. We will be setting up a Web site for the telling of Coming Out (and Staying In) tales, and our happy Archives folk will be ready to hear them from you by phone, fax, e-mail, in person, etc. We can even audio tape them for you. You can also snail mail them to VQA at RU12? PO Box 5883 Burlington, VT 05402.
Samara Foundation
The Samara Foundation of Vermont celebrated three years of grants and scholarships with a reception at the State House on August 3. More than 60 people turned out to join the fun. Members of the board of directors and Bill Lippert, Samara’s executive director, were present to thank Samara supporters and recipients of grants and scholarships who took the opportunity to tell the crowd how important Samara’s support is to them.
Samara board members Howdy Russell and Richard Wizansky will be leading grant writing workshops in the coming months. Also on the drawing board for next spring is a donor conference co-sponsored by the Gill Foundation.
Watch the Compass, the OITM calendar and the Samara Web site, www.samarafoundation.org, for details and dates. There you’ll also find photos from the celebration on August 3.
Same-Sex Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force
The Same-Sex Domestic and Sexual Violence Task Force has received funding to hire its first three staff people. Initially the task force is seeking a committed organizer to help build the infrastructure for this new program in support of survivors of same-gender domestic and/or sexual violence. This will be a full-time position supervising two part-time staff members working to provide warm-line, information and referral services for survivors. This position will work closely with community members and partner agencies to develop programming, access sustainable funding resources, and increase public awareness of same-gender DV. Ideal candidates will possess experience in non-profit management, program development, and/or community organizing within the lesbian, bisexual, transgender, gay, queer and questioning communities in Vermont. The task force is able to offer a competitive salary and benefits. Interested community members should send their resume, cover letter and contacts for three references before October 1, 2001 to SSDVTF Hiring Committee, c/o WRCC, PO Box 92, Burlington, VT 05402. A full job description is available, contact christopher@outrightvt.org or 1-800-GLB-CHAT.