Letters to the Editor
Christians
for LGBT Justice
Thanks for your affirming mention
of the various church groups that marched in the rainy Pride parade on
July 9 (editorial, August 2005). You correctly note that these groups
pride themselves (pun intended) on being "open-minded, open-door
churches... that came to bear their banners as witness to their support
of lgbts..."
Unfortunately, later on the
editorial makes an unqualified reference to "Christians" screaming
that marchers would go to hell.
Those of us Christians in "open-minded,
open-door" churches believe deeply that our commitment to lgbt justice
is true to the very core of our Christian heritage. We believe that in
their exclusion of lgbt people — or anyone else — closed-minded,
closed-door churches are failing to follow Jesus' teaching and practice.
The folks who stand on the sidelines to protest our celebrations of Pride
are many things: determined, vocal, and effective in their manipulation
of the media. In their private lives, they may be people whose faith is
rich and deeply meaningful to them, who take scriptural mandates quite
seriously. But when they are beating queer folk into the ground –
physically or spiritually – they are failing to live up to the central
tenets of the faith; and in that sense, in that moment, they are not being
"Christian."
Our entire community stands
to benefit from the work of Christians who put justice and love at the
center of our belief and practice. Just as we each struggle with internalized
homophobia when it rears its head, we must also refuse to concede that
homophobic doctrine is part and parcel of the Christian faith. To use
"Christian" as a synonym for "homophobe" is to give
our oppressors a lot more moral authority over us than their actions warrant.
The Rev. Elizabeth M. Stedman
Burlington
Elizabeth Stedman is a recently ordained deacon in St. Paul's Episcopal
Church.
Thanks, Peg
Thanks for publishing Peggy Luhrs' remarks on Pride Day. It's so refreshing
to read someone who still speaks the truth and doesn't mince words. And
who hasn't been burned out or overwhelmed by the enormity of the struggle.
Mary Schwartz
Bakersfield
Proud of Pride
Way to go on your inspirational coverage of this year's Pride Celebration,
in both Euan Bear's editorial and also Gabrielle Celeste's article.
You reminded me of the fanciful,
practical, emotional, political, strategic, and whimsical reasons why
we need Pride, year after year. Pride strengthens us. It builds a sense
of community. It helps us raise issues, speak our minds, have our voices
heard, and simply have fun. And frankly, we are in no danger of having
too many opportunities to celebrate with our family of queers and allies.
With a tiny budget, the Pride Committee
did a tremendous job, and I thank them for their work. You've done us
proud.
Jason P. Lorber
Burlington
Jason P. Lorber is a member of the Vermont House of Representatives.
Future Apology?
It is ironic that the Republicans
have finally confessed to their racial divisiveness for the last 30+ years,
and apologized to the NAACP for it now. They continue to spread hatred
and fear towards gay people. Will it take them another 30+ years for them
to figure out they are wrong again?
William Stosine
Iowa City, IA
Community Support
As a longtime former Vermont
resident, I read with interest your article titled "Anti-Gay Church
Evicted From Library" (OITM July, 2005). You are fortunate
in Burlington to have your communities' support of this.
Compare this to what is happening
in my neighboring Hillsborough County, Florida where in June this year
the Hillsborough County Commission voted five to one to bar county agencies
from recognizing or participating in Gay Pride Month or any events that
portray GLBT people in a positive light. In Hillsborough, library exhibits
featuring lesbian and gay authors and books with gay themes have been
ordered removed from display in the wake of the new policy. To add insult,
this decision was upheld at a subsequent Commission meeting in July with
the Commissioners not allowing a single person to speak out in protest.
Hillsborough County, as you probably know is home to Tampa – and
includes both winning Stanley Cup and Super Bowl teams as well as many
wonderful cultural and recreational events.
More information is available
on this issue at the Equality Florida website www.eqfl.org
where you can voice your disapproval to the politicians responsible for
this action.
Bernard Rivard
St. Petersburg, FL
Bras & Breasts
As a woman who is very involved with
the VT Susan G. Komen affiliate and whose husband was diagnosed with breast
cancer a year ago, I found this article very interesting. In all my readings
on BC, which is much more than the average person but of course nothing
compared to medical specialists, I have never come upon this. I suggest
that this article should get national exposure in more mainstream publications.
Since there are so many unanswered questions concerning the cause of BC
there are plenty of unproven theories out there that get a lot of attention
and rightfully so. In my opinion, this theory needs more press.
Marlene Skulnik
Dorset
Calling All Males
Thank you for writing last month about
SafeSpace's efforts to start a Queer Survivor Council. One of the reasons
we are excited to help create this group is to increase the number of
diverse people and voices working to end violence committed against and
within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in Vermont.
At SafeSpace, we are deeply committed to working to end all forms of violence
against all people, which includes men who have been abused as children,
men who have been battered by their partners and men who are victims of
hate crimes. One of the myths operating in our culture, that SafeSpace
is working to dismantle, is that only men are perpetrators of violence
and that men are not victims of abuse. We know that this only creates
incredible barriers for men to access help and safety, but it also keeps
men out of the movement to end violence.
At SafeSpace we believe violence,
whether in a relationship or family, whether sexual or emotional, in the
form of discrimination or hate, is not a woman's issue. Nor is violence
a men's issue; violence is a human issue. I am writing this letter to
OITM to put a special call out to all male-identified readers.
We need your unique and valuable voice in our queer anti-violence movement
in Vermont; please consider getting involved in SafeSpace!
We need men who are survivors
and men who are allies. We need you to join the Queer Survivor Council,
the SafeSpace Board of Directors, to volunteer as an Advocate, an Education/
Outreach volunteer, and/or a Fundraising volunteer. Although half of the
survivors calling our Support Line are male identified, the vast majority
of the staff, Board and volunteers are female. We know this needs to change.
For more information about volunteering
at SafeSpace, or to sign up for the next Volunteer Training starting September
17, please call Connie at 863-0003.
Kara DeLeonardis
SafeSpace Executive Director
At Witt's End by Leah Wittenberg
