RANDOLPH – Local GLBT leaders are launching the Gay & Lesbian Fund of Vermont this month to highlight the generosity of the GLBT community. The Fund also boasts a volunteer component, "Out for Good," that will enhance the visibility of GLBT work done in the larger community.
      Bennett Law, a former chair of Mountain Pride Media, said he still sees "Take Back Vermont" signs in Bethel where he lives with his partner Tom. He started thinking that people putting up these signs may think that the GLBT community "wants something" from the larger community, which in this case was the right to marry, or alternatively, civil unions.
      Perhaps the larger community feels that something is being taken from them, Law reasoned. If so, why not demonstrate what the GLBT community is already giving to the community, both in terms of financial support as well as time and energy?
      "We give to the hospital, ambulance, and Vermont Public Radio," Law said of himself and his partner. "Alone it may not mean much," he said, but if all contributions from the GLBT community were packaged together, it would be a way for the community to be acknowledged.
      So that's what Law and Susan Murray, one of two attorneys who filed Baker v. State, the lawsuit that eventually led to Vermont's civil union law, decided to do. They plan to combine the gifts of GLBT donors for each charity or other organization, and send that larger donation to the organization under the name of the Gay & Lesbian Fund.
       During the debates in the legislature regarding the right to marry, donations were received from Vermont and around the world, "bundled," and given to legislators through the Vermont Fund for Families (VFFF), a political action committee formed to elect candidates who support equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians. Sending the donations together sent a very powerful message to legislators, Murray said. If individuals had sent their contributions instead, the donations wouldn't have had nearly the impact. "It made a huge difference in how the candidates perceived us, in terms of our strength, influence, ability to raise money and turn out volunteers, etc. Huge."
       The Fund will charge $5 for every check written, which will be used to cover the costs of the Fund, but is not expected to make any money beyond expenses. The entire amount of a person's contribution, including the $5 fee, will be tax-deductible under the 501(c)3 program, Murray said.
       People will be shocked at the amount given by GLBT donors, Law said. If donors come together under the Gay & Lesbian Fund banner, they can make a much bigger donation to say, the Flynn Theater, hospital or other organization.
       The volunteer portion of the Gay & Lesbian Fund has its origins in a group of GLBT volunteers organized to help raise funds for Vermont Public Radio in past years. Barb Dozetos, a past editor of OITM, organized the volunteers under the name "Out for Good" for the VPR drive, and decided that it would be a good name to use for volunteers within the Gay & Lesbian Fund.
      Dozetos said that GLBT volunteers put in many hours helping people in a number of community organizations.
      "We're incredibly active in the larger community," Dozetos said. "It would be nice to be recognized for it."
      Plans for the volunteers include wearing "Out for Good" T-shirts wherever they volunteer their time. By wearing the T-shirts, the program will demonstrate to the larger community that GLBT volunteers help the community in many ways.
      "This feels like a really good thing for a maturing community to do," Dozetos said. "The world would be a much, much sadder place," she said, without the contributions of the gay community.
      The Gay & Lesbian Fund board members also include Carrie Rampp, also a past chair of Mountain Pride Media; David Hooks, former director and chair of Vermont CARES; Tom Bivins, former chair of the Vermont Chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food; Heidi Schueger, retired from the U.S. military - including service in Iraq - and now employed by Middlebury College; and Jan Blanchard, a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
       Organizers will have more information about the Fund available at the R.U.1.2? dinner in Burlington on May 13th.