Equality Vermont (formerly the Vermont Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights) Co-Liaisons Virginia Renfrew and Keith Goslant announced at the January 11th Third Queer Community Summit meeting that they had met with then-Governor-Elect-Apparent Douglas and his top aide, and that the governor had recognized their positions of co-liaisons from the LGBTIQ communities to his administration.
      It had been far from certain, based on statements that candidate Douglas had made during the campaign, whether he would, if elected, continue the tradition of recognizing and meeting with liaisons from the queer community.
      The meeting, held on December 31st, was scheduled as a brief introduction and lasted approximately 30 minutes, according to Goslant. Renfrew and Goslant reintroduced themselves to then-Governor-Elect-Apparent Douglas and presented some of the concerns of Vermont’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning communities as defined at the previous Queer Summit meetings. Some of the topics included: the targeting of Outright VT for exclusion from schools, medicinal marijuana, adequate funding for a broad range of health care issues (including HIV/AIDS), Reciprocal Partnerships versus Civil Unions, and maintaining open communication between the LGBTIQ communities and the Douglas administration.
      The Co-Liaisons offered to act as community contacts to assist in coordinating meetings between the Douglas Administration and organizations and constituents from within the LGBTIQ communities. The importance of the contact, said Goslant later, was that “we could coordinate contact with people who understand these issues to brief members of the governor’s administration. We can get real information to a governor who is willing to hear from us.”
      Douglas said numerous times during the meeting that the Equality Vermont co-liaisons could call him at any time, and reiterated his willingness to meet with concerned constituents. The Governor has also agreed to continue the tradition of Statehouse meetings held on Visibility Day (January 31) and HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (February 12). The Governor has not yet designated which member of his Cabinet will function as the official contact person for the Co-Liaisons.