Letters to the Editor
Safety
Patrol Thanks
On behalf of the staff at SafeSpace, I'd
like to extend my thanks to Euan Bear for the wonderful article about
the services and support our agency provides to LGBTQQ survivors of violence.
I would like to echo Euan's words that lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning lives count. Our experiences,
struggles, and celebrations mark a rich history. This social and political
history reflects our struggles for equality, justice and the right to
be treated as human. This history is a path of continual inclusion and
exclusion.
As a young Queer person I am proud to be
part of a community that has accomplished so much and made it possible
for me to come out and be part of something bigger. SafeSpace 'came out'
because of the dedication and hard work of activists who realized that
LGBTQQ people deserve the same support and advocacy that has been available
to heterosexual and women’s communities for so many years. There
is much more work to be done and many more alliances to build with other
social justice groups-- and this work is necessary for our movement to
expand, welcome more allies and ensure that all of us can live without
fear of violence and discrimination. I am confident that SafeSpace will
continue to play an instrumental part in expanding and challenging Vermont's
response to and education about violence to be ever-more inclusive.
SafeSpace services are available to
people of all ages, statewide, and are free and confidential. We encourage
you to call us ( toll-free at 866-869-7341 or 802-863-0003 around Burlington)
with any questions about our work, if you are interested in scheduling
a training for your group or want to volunteer your time.
Clark Sheldon
SafeSpace Youth Program Coordinator
Thank you for your balanced reporting
in this story [Safety Patrol, October 2004]. You have helped get rid of
some old harmful myths and aided your community's progress. I'm sure this
will be appreciated by your local residents.
You may be interested in my DVA2004
Media Recon Project at my website. I'm tracking media nationwide in hopes
of finding stories of this kind.
More information is here: desertlightjournal.blog-city.com/
Trudy W. Schuett
via the Internet
Define Feminist
I like Anne Moore's writing - it's
fresh and she's observant. Or maybe it's the other way around...
What I don't get is what's 'feminist'
about it. In "Mean Girls" (Culture Vulture, October 2004), Moore
relishes the camera that pans longingly in slo-mo over the body of a young
and apparently luscious actress playing a high school girl and then rejoices
because the camera represents two other high school girls and a gay boy,
a group of outsiders. So what is it that makes the objectification and
commodification of a woman's body okay when it's done by other women instead
of by men? In my kind of feminism, it's equally dehumanizing either way.
Maybe there's room for some discussion of
the (still) differing power dynamic among women as opposed to between
men and women, and that's what makes it okay - at least for Moore. But
let's be careful about throwing around the label feminist when the analysis
falls way short, eh?
Jane L. Allison
St. Johnsbury
Correction: Due to an editing error, Paul Olsen's degree was incorrectly
identified in his tagline. He recently earned a doctorate in education
(Ed.D.), not a Ph.D.
In
Memoriam: Ginny
Clarke
With typical firm grace and clear-eyed
strength, Ginny Clarke passed over into death in the early morning hours
of October 11th. She was 72. For many years Ginny lived with and worked
with Parkinson's disease which took an increasingly greater toll on her
body.
Several months ago I visited her in Underhill
where she had been living with her daughter Chris. I hadn't seen her in
a while and, to my eyes, she appeared to be quite weak physically and
suffering substantial discomfort. I asked her, "How is life being
for you?" assuming I would hear of the many difficulties she was
coping with every day. Her eyes grew bright and she said, "Oh Glo,
I am loving every day!" Then, as I had seen her do before, she broke
into a poem, this one about the grandeur of trees, reciting it in its
entirety.
A Sagittarius, Ginny was an enthusiastic
seeker of meaning and truth. She shared with me, on that occasion, her
excitement about the work of Eckhardt Tolle. Jeanette Andrew, with whom
she had a long, deep and abiding love, had introduced her to Tolle's The
Power of Now, and now she wanted to introduce me. She was clearly
in the present as we sat in her back yard. She had been meditating and
spoke of wanting to find an instructor. As she looked about her, she seemed
to be in love with the trees, the flitting birds and the movement of her
grand child.
For some time Ginny had been a main force
behind a small group that met to discuss and contemplate any and all issues
of living and dying. She spoke of how much benefit and support she'd been
deriving from being in the group.
Thinking back, I remember Ginny as a proficient
yoga teacher and a strong cross country skier. She invited me to join
her one winter day and though I was ten years younger, I was unable to
keep up with her amazing vigor.
She was never defeated or embittered by
her long relationship with Parkinson's, choosing instead to be delighted
by her life. When recently confronted with the prospect of new, far reaching
and painful complications of her disease, she courageously chose to let
go of life. Calling her loving and beloved family and friends together,
she was able to swiftly, peacefully, and joyfully slip away.
Glo Daley is an astrologer who lives in Huntington.