RU12? Community Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Vermont

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" makes the State Of The Union Address

On Wednesday night the nation watched as President Obama delivered the time-honored State Of The Union Address to members of Congress and the American people. His speech focused on health care reform, the bank bailout, creating new jobs, a government spending freeze, economic growth, Iraq, environmental policy, education affordability, earmark reform and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Before the address on Wednesday, White House sources revealed that the President would renew his pledge to repeal the law which mandates the discharge of openly gay, lesbian or bisexual service members. During his speech President Obama said, "This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are." We'll keep you posted on the progress of the President's pledge as 2010 continues!

Obama appoints first openly transgender person to executive post!

As 2009 came to a close President Obama appointed Amanda Simpson, an openly transgender woman, to be a Senior Technical Advisor in the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security. This position will require her to monitor the exports of U.S. weapons technology. Simpson began her new job on January 5, 2010.

Amanda Simpson is a member of the National Center for Transgender Equality board of directors, and has been very active in the LGBTQ community. She has served on the board of both NCTE  and Out & Equal. While residing in Arizona she has been actively involved with  Wingspan, the Southern Arizona Gender Alliance, the Southern Arizona ACLU and Equality Arizona (formally known as the Arizona Human Rights Fund). In her most recent job as Deputy Director in Advanced Technology Development at Raytheon Missile Systems, Ms. Simpson played a crucial role in persuading the military contractor in adding gender identity and expression to it's equal employment opportunity policy. 

Ms. Simpson holds degrees in physics, engineering and business administration. She has worked in the aerospace and defense industry for thirty years, and brings considerable experience to her newly appointed position.

In a prepared statement released on December 31st Simpson said, "I'm truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others." Ms. Simpson is among more than one hundred openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals appointed by the Obama administration since it came into office last year.

*LGBTQ Visibility Day 2010*

Friday, February 5th from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm is the Annual LGBTQ Visibility Day at the State House in Montpelier. Join us to meet fellow LGBTQ Vermonters, connect with LGBTQ organizations, and to connect with your legislators about important issues currently facing our community!

We have much to be thankful for this year! We are grateful to our legislative leaders and supporters who made history last year bringing full marriage equality to Vermont through the legislative process.

This year we are that much closer to all LGBTQ Vermonters being treated equally under the law in our communities. There is still work to be done and issues that legislators must hear about directly from their constituents.

Bullying and harassment of our youth in schools and communities, challenges facing people living with HIV and on-going barriers facing transgender Vermonters are just a few examples of the issues we need to be working on. We need your participation to ensure that our presence and the matters that are important to us are VISIBLE!

Visibility Day 2010 Schedule of Events:

• 8:00 am - LGBTQ Organizations Tabling in the Card Room outside of the Cafeteria and Breakfast with Legislators in the Cafeteria
• 9:30 am - Introduction and Resolution on the House Floor
• 11:00 am - Meeting with the Governor
• 11:30 am to 1:00 pm - Legislator Conversations over lunch

RSVP: email Kara@ru12.org or call 802.860.7812

Hosted by: RU12?, Outright VT, the Samara Foundation of Vermont, Vermont Freedom to Marry, Vermont CARES and VT TransAction

**The RU12? Community Center will be closed on Friday, February 5th because the staff will be in Montpelier for Visibility Day! Come join us and help make our presence and the matters that are important to us VISIBLE!!

Vigil for Haiti

RU12? shares a message about one way to show your support for the people of Haiti:

The Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center is hosting a vigil for Haiti at City Hall this Friday, January 29th, from 4-5pm. For more info please call 802-657-4219. Come learn about what efforts are currently underway in the city, what is being planned for the future, and how you can get involved.

 

HIV testing at RU12? unavailable today

The  RU12? Community Center will not be providing HIV testing today. However, Outright Vermont is offering free and anonymous HIV testing today from 1:00 to 5:30. Please call 802-865-9677 for more information. 

RU12? HIV testing schedule for this week

The RU12? Community Center will be providing free and anonymous HIV counseling, testing and referrals this week on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Appointments for HIV counseling, testing and referrals are encouraged, so please call ahead (802-860-7812) to schedule a time to come in.

Hey U.S. Census, it is time for a change!

With a new decade upon us there is a sense of accomplishment for all of the progress that has been made since the year 2000, as well as a feeling of urgency to continue to effect change for the LGBTQ community. One prominent item on the agenda is reforming the U.S. Census to include LGBTQ people.

The U.S. Census Bureau claims to seek an accurate picture of who we are as a nation. However, there is not a single question on the census that asks if you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The problem with this is that the census is suppose to reflect the diversity of our population, but if it doesn't ask about sexual orientation and gender identity then an eminent aspect of diversity is being left out.

Why is it so important for LGBTQ individuals to be counted in the census?  Because the data that is collected is used by researchers, advocates and policy makers to construct social service programs and make significant policy decisions regarding health care, economic stability and safety. If LGBTQ people aren't represented in the census then we aren't considered when these decisions are made.

Recently the LGBTQ community was successful in getting same sex marriage added to the 2010 census, which is a great sign that progress is being made! Let's send the message loud and clear that it is imperative that the U.S. Census and other government surveys count LGBTQ individuals in their data collection!

Tell the U.S. Census Bureau it is time for a change!

Thank you RU12? Volunteers!

 On January, 18, 2010, people of all ages and backgrounds will come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned. Dr. Martin Luther King devoted his life’s work to causes of equality and social justice. He taught that through nonviolence and service to one another, problems such as hunger and homelessness, prejudice and discrimination can be overcome. 

On this day, Americans of every age and background celebrate Dr. King through service projects that:

    •    Strengthen Communities
Dr. King recognized the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals. Through his words and example, Dr. King challenged individuals to take action and lift up their neighbors and communities through service.
    

    •    Empower Individuals
Dr. King believed each individual possessed the power to lift himself or herself up no matter what his or her circumstances – rich or poor, black or white, man or woman. Whether teaching literacy skills, helping an older adult surf the Web, or helping an individual build the skills they need to acquire a job, acts of service can help others improve their own lives while doing so much for those who serve, as well.
    

    •    Bridge Barriers
In his fight for civil rights, Dr. King inspired Americans to think beyond themselves, look past differences, and work toward equality. Serving side by side, community service bridges barriers between people and teaches us that in the end, we are more alike than we are different.

We would like to especially thank all of the amazing volunteers who throughout the year have donated their time and talents to RU12?  With your help RU12? Community Center is making a difference in people’s lives and the greater community!

Winter Pride 2010!!

Today is the last day of Winter Pride and The events today are starting in only 40 minutes!! With the family event  at Pizza Putt starting at 1p and then to end the night in style we will be at 1/2 Lounge tonight closing the week with Funhouse!!

Winter Pride!!!

Tonight come join Vermont Pride, RU12?, and GLAM for their Friday Night Movie event. Tonight at 7p there will be a showing of MILK at the RU12? Community Center! Stop by and watch MILK and eat some popcorn with Vermont Pride Committee Members, RU12? staff, and GLAM members!!!

Looking for something fun tonight?

There are two events happening tonight in the Burlington area, First from 4p-7p there will be an open house for RU12? at Von Bargen's!!!!! There will be light refreshments and door prizes.

Then tonight at 9p Pride Vermont will be hosting Guerilla Queer Bar at ESOX!!!! Stop down at ESOX from 9p on and support Pride Vermont.

Both of these events are free and are in support of the Vermont Queer Community! So lets show our support, and stop by one or both of these events tonight!

Winter Pride 2010!

This year Pride VT is doing something a little different so we don't have to wait till this July for Pride events! Welcome to the first Winter Pride! Starting today and continuing through Sunday there will be events for everyone! Starting tonight with Proud Women Play Music, this event will be held at Red Square on Church St. Come down and support Pride VT, and hear amazing music from artists like Antara and Rachael Erickson Rice, and many more. The event starts at 7p, and there is a $3 cover that benefits Pride VT. The Pride Committee hopes to see you all there!!! Plus if you are wondering what else is going on this week you can keep checking back here, or can check out Pride VT's website at www.pridevt.com.

WinterPride Family Event

 Tomorrow kicks off Vermont's first WinterPride, and we are excited to announce that this Sunday, January 17th at 1:00 pm a WinterPride family event will take place at Pizza Putt. Come and join other LGBTQ families for pizza, mini golf, laser tag, and arcade games. This is a great opportunity to meet other LGBTQ families in the area and support our community! We will provide coupons at Pizza Putt for discounts on mini golf, laser tag, the play structure, and pizza. This is sure to be a great time for all ages! For more information regarding this event please contact sharon@ru12.org. See you there!

*Pizza Putt is located at 1205 Airport Parkway in South Burlington 

Todd’s Peek: "Giovanni’s Room" by James Baldwin- A True Awakening

 James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, first published in 1956, is an ineffable, beautifully written narrative.  Baldwin lived from 1924-1987, a gay, black man, the eldest of nine kids.  When he was a teenager his mom moved to Harlem, remarried his step father, a Pentecostal Minister, who was said to have a curious impact on Baldwin at that stage of his life, as Baldwin also chose to become a Pentecostal Minister at first in the early years of his life.

Giovanni’s Room accounts of a biographical time living in Paris, France, and meeting Giovanni his enigmatic lover.  Paris, in the late fifties had the reputation of being far more liberal than America at that point in time, and there seems to be an underlying feeling of devoid to being American and Gay in that it was juxtaposed to living in Paris at the time.

Set in the 1950's Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality.  Giovanni's Room is narrated introspectively and retrospectively in the first person by a young, white American named David, who is trying to find himself in post-World War II France. With a sharp, probing imagination, James Baldwin's now classic narrative delves into the mystery of loving and creates a moving, highly controversial story of death and passion that reveals the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

Baldwin's story gives the reader a sense of his own inherent desire to be a healthy man, outside of the confines of Giovanni’s Room.   As a gay man myself, I highly recommend this read, because of the cause and affect to the stark prose, narrative shape and imagery of Giovanni’s Room.  I am compelled to find  in all of this my own needs as a gay man, that clarity which is reflected back to me in his stark prose, lush narrative, shape and imagery in which we must live and die with a clear conscientious.  

Take Baldwin to heart and you will never be sorry for that.  He clearly writes to evoke and to be self-evoking that need in all of us to be gay and live clearly our lives!  

Von Bargens Jewelry Open House

Open House for the LGBTQ Community

Come enjoy a relaxed and comfortable evening of Pure Romance at Von Bargen’s Jewelry.

Learn more about luxury designer and Couture jewelry, diamonds and more in an informal atmosphere.

Light refreshments – door prizes

Thursday, January 14^th: 4p – 7p

Von Bargen’s Jewelry

131 Church Street

Burlington, VT 05401

864-0012

For more information contact: Jeff Pierce, 864-0012 jeff@vonbargens.com

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010!

2009 was a year of ups and downs for the LGBT community movement. We were successful in passing comprehensive hate crimes legislation and we made significant gains on employment nondiscrimination! However, we were subjected to heartbreaking defeats when it came to marriage inequality. Nevertheless, this year in Vermont the Senate and House voted to override Governor Douglas' veto of the same-sex marriage bill and passed same-sex marriage into law. On September 1, 2009 the first same-sex marriages in Vermont took place at midnight!

There is a lot of work to be done in 2010, and now is the time to start! This year the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force will be hosting it's annual Creating Change conference in Dallas, Texas. The Creating Change conference aims to train LGBT activists and leaders to use their skills and networks on the ground, state by state, to change hearts and minds. Click here for more information on the conference.

Can't make it to Texas? There is plenty you can do in your own neighborhood to advance the movement. The Obama administration has done a lot of talking about their ally status to the LGBT community, so let's take advantage of having allies in the White House and pressure them to make real changes! It is time for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to be terminated. It is time for the US Census Bureau to include LGBT individuals and families in the data. It is time for inclusive employment nondiscrimination legislation to be passed. You can go door to door in cities and towns across the country and write letters or make phone calls to Capitol Hill to make sure our elected officials are working toward our goals!

It is the beginning of a new year and a new decade, the possibilities are endless*

 
 

HIV Testing News

There will not be testing available tomorrow at RU12? You can still get tested however at two other places tomorrow

From 1p-5p you can receive free anonymous testing at Outright VT

Just ask for Ella!!!!

Also from 1p-4p you can receive free anonymous testing at the Vermont Department of Health, this is by appointment.

Just ask for Denise at 802-863-7329

We will be returning to our testing schedule next week!!!!

Happy New Year from everyone at RU12?!

Thank you for making our community stronger by volunteering, donating and making a difference in your daily life by being who you are.

 

All of us at the RU12? Community Center wish you and yours a healthy, happy and prosperous new year!