VT Human Rights Commission

by Juanita L. Lerch
OITM Staff Writer

Chuck Kletecka

     During the 1988 legislative session, the Vermont Legislature passed Senate Bill S-308 re-establishing the Vermont Human Rights Commission. S-308 outlines the duties, jurisdiction and powers of the Commission: a) the Commission shall endeavor through public education to increase awareness of the importance of full civil and human rights for each inhabitant of the state, b) the Commission shall have jurisdiction to investigate and enforce complaints of unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and rental and sale of real estate. The Commission shall also have jurisdiction when the party complained against is a state agency in matters for which the Attorney General would otherwise have jurisdiction.
      Two major changes have taken place as of late at the Vermont Human Rights Commission, Gov. Howard Dean recently appointed Chuck Kletecka, an openly gay man living with HIV, to a five-year term as one of the five commissioners. Also, Robert Appel, the state’s former defender general, began work as the agency’s new Executive Director on Nov. 1.
      Kletecka, 48, has lived in Vermont for eight years and formerly served on the board of the Vermont Coalition for People with AIDS. Prior to moving to Vermont, he worked as a social worker. He currently lives in Waterbury Center with his partner, openly gay state Rep. Robert Dostis. Kletecka sees his appointment to the Human Rights Commission as a plus for Vermont’s gay and lesbian community.
      Appel, 50, served as Vermont’s defender general where he provided legal counsel to criminal defendants unable to afford legal representation, prior to his appointment to the Commission. From 1988 to 1993, he served as the state’s assistant attorney general for civil rights. An enthusiastic response from gay activists greets both of these appointments to the Vermont Human Rights Commission.
      For more information on the Vermont Human Rights Commission, log on at: www.hrc.state.vt.us or on Senate Bill S-308: www.leg.state.vt.us or www.mountainpridemedia.org/oitm/issues/1988/11nov1988/vthrc.html for an Out in the Mountains archive story on the re-establishment of the Vermont Human Rights Commission.