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

President Comes Out In Support of Same-Sex Marriage

Yesterday, in an interview with ABC, President Obama said that he supports the right of same-sex couples to marry. He stated:

"I'd hesitated on gay marriage in part because I thought civil unions would be sufficient . . . I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."

We applaud his affirmation that couples legally recognized as being the same sex are entitled to the same rights that couples who are legally recognized as being different sexes currently benefit from.

To see our own Kim Fountain speak on this important topic, check out her interview on Channel 5.

 

Some thoughts from RU12?'s ED, Kim Fountain

On Thursday I watched a video of Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire advocating for same sex marriage.  Many of her arguments have been in circulation for well over a decade. While I listened with a bit of jaded happiness, because I am always amazed by the glacial pace of cultural transformations, I found myself listening much more closely and hopefully as she began to shift from the political rhetoric to her description of her personal journey.

For her first seven years in office, Gregoire publically opposed same sex marriage on the basis of her personal religious beliefs. Throughout the speech she gave in support, her delivery was steadfast and resolute. Toward the end, she became much softer and more emotive, even tearing up a bit as she described what moved her to shift her position. She said,  “It’s time for us to stand up and understand that the state cannot be in the business of discrimination…It was that and it was my children, it was the children of friends, friends, it was leaders…I finally said to myself, it’s time to do the right thing and let me tell you I feel so much better today than I have in the last seven years.”  At the center of her transformation was a part of her community that knew the importance of equality and respect for LGBTQ people and who chose to share those views with her. Governor Gregoire needed to see a thriving and engaged LGBTQ culture with people from various parts of her life that supported this culture. 

I hope that we can continue to so move our political and community leaders. To do so will mean that we must continue to see the importance of LGBTQ visibility and we must continue to contribute to the building of community, not just during political struggles, but on a daily basis. 

In solidarity,

Kim Fountain

 

Military Group with PIZZA and Games, this Thursday!

Military LGBQ members join us for pizza and games at the RU12 community center on February 2 from 5-7!!! (notice the time change!)

You heard right, next meeting we'll have pizza and discussion centered around Wii sports action and board games.. Scrabble, Scategories, LIF...E, trivia, UNO, we've got 'em all!

If you know for sure you can make it, please RSVP at angela@ru12.org so we can make sure we have enough pizza for everyone! Also, please let me know if you have any special dietary concerns!

As always, please distibute this as much as possible to any LGBQ service members!

Hope to see you there!

This is a Group for LGB-Q active and non-active military service members. If you'd like more information or would like to get involved please contact: Angela@ru12.org or call 802-860-RU12 (7812).

This group is held from 5-7 pm on the 1st & 3rd Thursdays of the month, in the library at the RU12? Community Center in the Champlain Mill (1st floor).

This isn't your ordinary volunteer opportunity!

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Facebook Event

When: Sunday, January 29th, from 11am-12:30

Where: RU12? Community Center, 20 Winooski Falls Way, Winooski, VT

If you are interested in joining us at this session, please contact Kim Fountain:DCAT@ru12.org or 802-860-7812

If you can't make it to the session, but are still interested in volunteering with DCAT, there will be another session on Monday, March 27th at 6:00 pm.

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Do you know someone who you think would be perfect for DCAT? Download the DCAT and pass along to a friend!

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Events that you could help create:

 

Summer Semester

One of RU12? Community Center’s first programs is back! Summer Semester offers the opportunity for LGBTQ community members to draw upon the skill, ability and knowledge of our talented peers with short series of classes throughout the summer. Potential classes to be offered include: Basic Car Maintainance, Yoga, Financial Planning, Photography, Zumba, Resume Writing, Home Ownership and more!

Family Bowling!

When you host a bowl-a-thon, you recruit people to bowl on a designated day for your special event. Each participating bowler solicits a flat rate pledge among neighbors, friends, and relatives. This could be a fun way to get families to engage in supporting RU12? as well as having a great event for families to enjoy together.

Grab a Bite with Friends

Help introduce the community to RU12? by working with your favorite local restaurants to host benefit nights.

 

 

House or Garden Party

Team up with a friend or neighbor to put together a fabulous event for your friends. Let them know how much you care about your community and ask them to support a organization you believe in.

Tee Off With RU12?

Hosting a golf tournament can be a high-profile, and often very lucrative fundraising event. A great advantage of hosting a tournament is the connections you make with local businesses and celebrities that support the RU12? Community Center. Plan a whole day event with lunch and prizes.

 

Pitch us your own idea!

Contact Kim Fountain: DCAT@ru12.org or 802-860-7812

 Make a Difference in Your Community 

Join the RU12? Community Center's Development Committee Action Team (DCAT). DCAT is designed to produce events aimed at fundraising and/or 'friendraising' for RU12?.

On January 29th, we will be hosting our first DCAT volunteer recruitment. This is not your ordinary volunteer opportunity. Whether you want to lead the organizing, participate in only one particular aspect of the organizing such as advertizing or outreach, or you only have time to show up at the event and help take care of logistics, we have the need for your time, energy, and commitment.

The recruitment session will introduce you to RU12's plans for 2012, outline the DCAT structure and present you with opportunities to get involved.

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GLAM Gaymes Night: First Friday Pre-Gayme!

Facebook Event Page

You know you're a player... we wanna see your game!   Join other guys who like guys for a night of smooth moves and extra-friendly competition. We've got some great games (like, Wii, Apples to Apples and Taboo) but feel free to bring any of your own too. We've got all your snacky dreams and desires covered, too. Just bring your game-face!   Meet up with us at RU12? Annex (located on the 2nd Floor of the Champlain Mill) at 8pm. We'll be heading over to First Friday at Higher Ground to continue the fun.   If you are a young gay, bi or queer man and are interested in becoming involved with GLAM, email us at glam@ru12.org, facebook friend us http://www.facebook.com/GLAMvt or visit us online at www.glamvt.org

 

 

Check out our temporary new space!

‎**IMPORTANT UPDATE**

The elevator in the Champlain Mill is out of service for the next several weeks. In order to remain accessible, all public meetings, support groups and HIV testing services will now occur in the RU12? Community Center Annex located on the second floor (accessible from the 2nd fl ramp) The temporary space that the staff affectionately calls "Narnia" is located one floor above our current space, on the left side of the building if you are facing the entrance from the outside. Stay tuned as we will provide more detailed information developes.

We still have use of the full community center but the accessible 2nd floor location will be the entry point for almost all center activities. Please call if you have questions: 802.860.7812

Check out the video to see where the RU12? Community Center Annex is located. 

 

 

 

GLAMflixx: Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Weds 8PM)

RU12? Provides a Weekly Snapshot of LGBT Events & Announcements Throughout the State

Did you know that RU12? sends out the "What's UP", a weekly e-newsletter that provides a snapshot of all the LGBT events and announcements throughout the state and region?

Don't miss out! Included in each issue you'll find:

• LGBTQ Related News
• List of Events and Programs offered each week at The Center
• Events offered by other organizations in Vermont that provide services to LGBTQ Vermonters
• LGBT Social Calender for Vermont and neighboring regions.
• Job Opportunities
• Call to Action
• and much more!

If you have something that you feel needs to be included in the "What's UP" please email calendar@ru12.org

Sign Up for the RU12? Weekly Newsetter

GLAMflixx: Kaboom, Wednesday August 10th, 8pm

 

GLAMflixx occurs on the second Wednesday of every month at The RU12? Community Center in Winooski at 8PM

This months movie: Kaboom

Writer and director Gregg Araki revisits the day-glo universe of sex, drugs, and random perversity that informed his early films in this over-the-top dark comedy. Smith (Thomas Dekker) is an 18-year-old film student who is bisexual and has a ravenous erotic appetite; his best friend is Stella (Haley Bennett), who prefers the company of women but is just as enthusiastic about pursuing new lovers. Smith has been haunted by a series of recurring dreams featuring two beautiful women, one dark and enigmatic, the other similarly spectral with flaming red hair. This wouldn't bother him, except that the women from his dreams have begun appearing in real life -- Lorelei (Roxane Mesquida), Stella's new partner, is a magic aficionado who's a dead ringer for the dark-haired woman, and the red-haired girl (Nicole LaLiberte) is being pursued by a gang of masked assassins. Has Smith stumbled into a plot with possible world-changing consequences? Or is this all just the product of some hallucinogenic cookies he was served at a party? Kaboom received its world premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

For more information or to get involved in GLAM, call Jean-Denis or Mike at 802.860.7812 or email glam@ru12.org.

GLAMflix: Tarnation Wednesday, July 13th

GLAMflixx occurs on the second Wednesday of every month at The RU12? Community Center in Winooski at 8PM

This months movie: Tarnation

In the making since the director was 11-years-old and completed on a reported budget of about 200 dollars, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation is an experimental and self-reflective mix of documentary and fiction. Bringing together a collection of home movies, family photos, answering machine messages, reenactments and Caouette's video diary, the film attempts to delve into the filmmaker's experiences growing up queer with a schizophrenic mother and dealing with her 2003 lithium overdose, which rendered her even more mentally unstable than before. After premiering at the 2003 New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Tarnation screened as part of the Frontier program at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

For more information or to get involved in GLAM, call Jean-Denis or Mike at 802.860.7812 or email glam@ru12.org.

Click for Event Details

GLAMFlixx: Tarnation Wednesday, July 13th 8PM

GLAMflixx occurs on the second Tuesday of every month at The RU12? Community Center in Winooski at 8PM

This months movie: Tarnation

In the making since the director was 11-years-old and completed on a reported budget of about 200 dollars, Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation is an experimental and self-reflective mix of documentary and fiction. Bringing together a collection of home movies, family photos, answering machine messages, reenactments and Caouette's video diary, the film attempts to delve into the filmmaker's experiences growing up queer with a schizophrenic mother and dealing with her 2003 lithium overdose, which rendered her even more mentally unstable than before. After premiering at the 2003 New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, Tarnation screened as part of the Frontier program at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

For more information or to get involved in GLAM, call Jean-Denis or Mike at 802.860.7812 or email glam@ru12.org. 

Outright Vermont/RU12? Queer Community Outdoor Movie Night

 

When: Friday, June 24 at 8:30pm - 11:00pm

Location: Outside RU12? Community Center at the Champlain Mill in Downtown Winooski

Come join us for an outdoor movie! We'll meet on the lawn at the Champlain Mill, dish out snacks, and take advantage of summer with a movie projected on a big screen. Good for all ages, free to attend! This event is brought by a partnership between Outright VT and RU12?

 

Special Screening & Wine Reception for "The LuLu Sessions"

TIme:                   Saturday, June 4 · 5:00pm - 8:00pm

Location:            Fleming Museum, 61 Colchester Avenue, Burlington, VT

 

The film is coming home! A very special grassroots event & commemorative screening in Burlington, VT! Join local advocates and the filmmakers at the Fleming Museum.

5pm Screening and Q&A
7pm Wine and Cheese Reception
8pm After Party location TBA

Space is limited.

RSVP to sessions2011@gmail.com

To find out more about our film visit lulusessionsfilm.com or send us a message!

VIEW TRAILER

Release Date:      2011

Genre:                 Feature Documentary Film

Studio:                 OO Media

About:                  Two best friends taking on life's ultimate adventure

Description:

LuLu is unlike anyone you’ve ever met.

A hard-living, chain-smoking rebel with a tender heart. A poet with a potty mouth. Farm girl. Former cheerleader. World-class cancer researcher. Beloved professor. Dr. Louise Nutter, or LuLu has just discovered a new anti-cancer drug when she finds out she is dying of breast cancer herself at 42. Shot during those last 15 months of LuLu’s life, The LuLu Sessions is a raw, intimate, yet surprisingly humorous story about the filmmaker showing up for her best friend, and together, testing the limits of their bond while taking on life’s ultimate adventure.

 

Starring:            Dr. Louise Nutter, S. Casper Wong

Directed By:       S. Casper Wong, Edited by Laura Minnear

Written By:        S. Casper Wong, Laura Minnear

Produced By:     S. Casper Wong; Co-producer-Laura Minnear;

                          Associate Producer-Tiffany Peckosh

Website:             http://www.lulusessionsfilm.com

'OUT in America' airing June 5th at 9:30 pm on VPT

'OUT in America' is an uplifting collection of unique, transformative stories and inspiring personal narratives told through the lens of the country's most prominent LGBT figures and pioneers, as well as many average, yet extraordinary, citizens from Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender communities. The program weaves together diverse stories - from urban and rural America, from the heartland to New England, from San Francisco to Harlem. Deeply moving and often humorous, viewers will get a glimpse of awakenings, first crushes, unlikely soul mates, intimacy and liberation. While separated by circumstance and upbringing, the film's subjects are all united in their shared experiences of self-discovery, coming out, pride and love as well as a triumph over adversity and a true sense of belonging. Against the backdrop of historical events, each also traces their own hopes, struggles, influences and contributions towards advancements in equality and broad social change.

GLAMflix: I Love You Phillip Morris

 

Wednesday, May 11 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm at the RU12? Community Center  

Are you a young gay, bi or queer guy looking to meet other guys? Join GLAM for it's monthly movie night. This month the group chose "I Love You Phillip Morris".

I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS is the improbable but true story of a spectacularly charismatic conman’s journey from small-town businessman to flamboyant white-collar criminal, who repeatedly finds himself in trouble with the law and on the lam, brilliantly escaping from the Texas prison system on four separate occasions – all in the name of love.

Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) leads a seemingly average life – an organ player in the local church, happily married to Debbie (Leslie Mann), and a member of the local police force. That is until he has a severe car accident that leads him to the ultimate epiphany: he’s gay and he’s going to live life to the fullest – even if he has to break the law to do it. Taking on an extravagant lifestyle, Steven turns to cons and fraud to make ends meet and is eventually sent to the State Penitentiary where he meets the love of his life, a sensitive, soft-spoken man named Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts him to attempt (and often succeed at) one impossible con after another. Told with an uncanny sense of humor and a lot of heart, “I Love You Phillip Morris” is an oddball tale of what can happen when the legal system, a daredevil spirit and undying love collide.