Out In The Mountains : News - Weinstock Earns Volunteer Award

      Burlington – A table full of SafeSpace staff and volunteers were the first to jump up and cheer before they crowded onto the stage in the Wyndham Hotel ballroom on April 16 to lavish praise on their nominee for Volunteer of the Year, Board Chair Jackie Weinstock.
      "I didn't even know I had been nominated until halfway through the evening. I was very touched," Weinstock said two days after receiving her award. "If I had been on the committee, I would have voted for the Translating Identity Conference organizing group, they have had such an impact."
      Also nominated were Dan Brink, board chair of Mountain Pride Media; Kate Jerman, co-director of Outright Vermont, for her work with TransAction on passing H.478, the Gender Identity and Expression Inclusion Act; Jes Kraus of TransAction; Julia Smith, a 15-year-old activist with Outright Vermont; and Bob Wolff, who has volunteered for R.U.1.2? and Mountain Pride Media.
      The community's "formal leaders" do get attention, and these days some of them actually get paid, Weinstock agreed in a phone conversation. "What I like about this award is that it's more about honoring people doing the work that needs to be done. It's wonderful to highlight every year someone who's working in the grassroots, making time in their lives."
       The Award Committee included Thom Fleury, Glo Webel, Connie Beal, and Peggy Luhrs. Beal and Luhrs are Americorps Vista workers at SafeSpace and R.U.1.2? respectively. Fleury volunteers for a number of organizations, including delivering Out in the Mountains.
Numerous speakers focused on the task of passing H.478, which became a theme of the evening at the "Lucky 7" annual fundraising dinner for the R.U.1.2? Queer Community Center.
      The capacity crowd of 300 people, including Faeries, students, activists, volunteers, lawyers, financial planners, clergy, legislators, and most – if not all – of the lgbtq alphabet soup, gave keynote speaker Eli Clare a standing ovation for his eloquent evocation of the "tug" of gender on his various identities as a tomboy, a butch lesbian, a disability activist, and a transman.
       Entertainment was provided by hostesses the Sisters LeMay, a well-known Vermont drag act. Jason Lorber, a recent arrival to Vermont and a stand-up comedian elected last November to the Vermont House, handled the MC duties. Dinner music was provided by the Andric Severance Trio.
       In addition to the dinner, funds were raised by the donation of silent auction items on which the diners bid.