A Modest Proposal

     Since you’ve taken over as editor ofOut in the Mountains it seems the content of the paper hassteadily become more and more lesbian oriented. I counted at least 12 ofthe articles in the current February issue as written by lesbians, anumber of them written by yourself.
     This is hardly a bad thing – it simply adds fuel to the fire of myinsistence that it’s way past time to have an all-lesbianpublication – either a newspaper or magazine – which wouldforever eliminate the vain attempts of present mags like The Advocateto be both gay male, lesbian, and transgender oriented. I’mspeaking now, of course, of the publications distributednationally.
      In our own localcase, I feel it’s time to at least divide your newspaper into threesections – perhaps the first devoted to lesbian interest, thesecond to male gay interest, and the third to news, events, ads, etc.which are nongender-specific. For instance, a comic strip like Dykesto Watch Out For would decidedly go into the lesbian interestsection, while anything like Curbside would be printed for gaymales. Both sections should be as equal as possible, with neither sidepredominant. I think you’d probably get more contributions of bothsexes if you did this. I know that I for one would certainly take moreinterest in the publication.
     Themajority of gay males have no interest in women or women’s affairs,whether lesbian or not. Likewise I’m sure lesbians have littleinterest in the gay male, other than the standpoint of us all being‘gay.’ So why subject yourself to the other? As a person,you’re certainly a delight to know (I’ve met you, altho Ihardly expect you to remember) but the newspaper for which you’reresponsible isn’t read for the content of what primarily interestsyou alone. Please try my suggestion.

AlanCurtis
Morrisville

     Thanks for your gracious noteand thoughtful suggestion, Alan (of course I remember you – yousent me a copy of your book after we talked at a volunteer stuffingnight).
      The thing Inoticed about the February issue was that the entire arts section waswritten by men. The last nine Spiritual Essence columns have beenwritten by men.
     We –Mountain Pride Media and OITM – exist to develop andstrengthen the community of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender andquestioning (GLBTQ) Vermonters, through the development and maintenanceof communications vehicles. That goal would not be accomplished by somesort of ‘separate but equal’ treatment in the paper. Not tomention the difficulties of assigning articles to one section oranother: By writer’s gender? By article content? And where would weput potential articles by transgender writers? Should I not have writtenthe article on the Barre shelter being open to men because I’m alesbian and it’s a male issue?
      One of my goals is to promote understandingand coalition-building among segments of our communities by including adiverse collection of topics and writers. I try to balancegender-specific interest as much as possible. Any individual issue ofOITM might show that distribution tipped slightly one way or theother, but I hope it all equals out over a year’stime.
      And, finally, of course,there’s the volunteer factor. All the writers are volunteers, sothe content of any issue depends on who is willing to write, given thedemands of a paying job and family and/or social life. I send out anemail to writers and other contributors at the beginning of the monthlisting stories I’m aware of and soliciting input for other ideasand interests. When I think an event or issue is too important to beorphaned, I email specific writers to ask if they will take it on. Ifeel honored and privileged that OITM receives such quality workfrom articulate, entertaining contributors of any gender.
      So, unless there is an overwhelming outpouringof support in letters and emails for your proposal, Alan, I think we areunlikely any time soon to have a community paper divided into theladies’ pages and the gents’ pages. – EB

Another Survivor Resource

     Last fall, OITM published myreview of Leaping Upon the Mountains by Mike Lew, a book for malesurvivors of childhood sexual abuse. At that time we listed some localtherapists that work with male survivors but struggled to find othersupport groups for survivors.
     I recentlyspoke to a friend in Boston who informed me that there is a new(ish)group of mixed-gender survivors meeting in Montpelier and I thoughtOITM’s readers should know about this resource. Survivors ofIncest Anonymous meets weekly at the UCC Bethany Church on Main Streetin downtown Montpelier (on the right, just past Ben & Jerry’sas you travel up [east on] Main Street from Route 2).
      Meetings are Mondays from 6:00-7:00 pm in theBlue Door Room. Call 229-2153 or 454-7822 for more info. The person Italked to at the info number was very helpful, assured me that meetingsare GLBTQ friendly and encouraged me to send this announcement to OutIn The Mountains. She said the group is small, usually three to fivepeople, and they would welcome new members at any time.
      Survivors of Incest Anonymous is a twelve-stepprogram. Their website defines incest very broadly as childhood sexualabuse by a family member, or close family friend or acquaintance,including clergy or other “helping” professionals. The SIAwebsite has links to other meetings and support, www.siawso.org.

ChristopherKaufman
Executive Director
R.U.1.2? Community Center

NUSIChecks In

     The Northwest Unitfor Special Investigations (“NUSI”) is a multi-disciplinarytask force created to conduct criminal investigations an provide victimservices in response to reports of child or adult sexual abuse. Thepolice officers, victims advocates, nurse examiners, prosecutors,therapists and support staff that work with the NUSI unit offer theirspecial training which includes working with the gay/lesbian communityin a sensitive, objective manner. The expertise offered by this unitprotects all victims of sexual assault and hold[s] offendersaccountable. We investigated more than 240 cases last year. In additionto improving the quality and timeliness of each sexual assaultinvestigation, we strive to reduce further trauma to all victimsregardless of their sexual orientation. This is done by offering supportservices on site to victims and their families.
      Calling the police after being sexually assaultedcan be extremely difficult, particularly if it is a same sex assault andyour confidence in an appropriate, respectful police response is unsure.NUSI is here to serve all victims of sexual assault in Franklin andGrand Isle counties.

Detective Trooper IngridJonas
Northwest Unit for Special Investigations
St. Albans

Editor’s Notebook

     Just a little housekeeping:Somewhere along the line a friend of OITM’s noticed that wecan’t count, or maybe we can count, but we were so fascinated withthe glbtq scene in Vermont, we forgot to change volume numbers. I thinkwe currently have two volumes marked 16 (or XVI). We progressed tovolume 17 on schedule with last month’s issue, but it should havebeen volume 18. The current issue is Volume 18, number 2. Just for allthose record-keeping gremlins.
      And a sad note: Les B. Frank has decided toput his advice column “Ask Mr. Frank” on hiatus for theforeseeable future. Last issue he thought it would be a short break, butit has turned into a more-or-less permanent vacation from dealing withthe problems of the queer world.

At Witt's End

Leah Wittenberg
Burlington, VT