23oct00
reader email: "Take Back Vermont. Redeem For Valuable Prizes"
Civil Unions stuff starting to get some national press:
``You people are forcing us to teach tolerance and diversity,'' [a protestor] complained when [Governor Howard] Dean waded into the group of protesters in
Williamstown.
``What's wrong with that?'' Dean responded.
We got linked in Yahoo, finally
Since people can't agree, the Rutland Herald asks "what is Take Back Vermont about for you?"
Gay-civil-unions.com has this TBVT cartoon
FYI: NV and NE are putting questions on the ballot prohibiting legal recognition of same sex couples.
18oct00
A few pix from the statehouse rally:
One of the more positive emails we have received.
07oct00
Rally at the Statehouse Oct 15, 2 pm.
05oct00
Got a sense of humor? Try Take That Vermont.
Take Back Vermont signs are confusing tourists. Please take them down.
The French magazine Liberation has an article on TBVT. I was interviewed for it. Don't read French? You can try this approximate translation.
Spooky so-called "statistics" about homosexuals from STARS Vermont
[Standing Together and Reclaiming the State].
01oct00
Finally got the "fan mail" page up and running. It's not for the faint of heart.
Also added a new picture page with some of the slogans and signs that have been kicking around lately. Keep up the good work.
Can't find it? Remember the index page, also revamped.
30sep00
Andy Christiansen has contributed his op-ed piece about tolerance.
I really enjoyed the Washington County candidate debates. Overall it looked like it was four against civil unions [with one candidate saying that no one should get special privileges, including heterosexuals] and five for. See for yourself, their web pages and/or email addresses are here. Send more info on these candidates if you have any.
You probably already know who your candidates are, but if not, check here.
"Vermont for ALL Vermonters" is sponsoring a rally at the Vermont Statehouse that will be held on Sunday, October 15, at 2:00 P.M. Bread & Puppet and several musical guests will be performing at the event.
A different perspective on Take Back Vermont.
Meanwhile, in Orange County, tempers are running high over people "voting their conscience".
And in the Better Late Than Never category, the results of September's primary.
Get yourself a Take Vermont Forward bumpersticker.
The lyrics to "I'll Remember in Novermber"
22sep00
Sorry for the long hiatus, updates resume this week.
Take Back New Jersey?
Next meeting of Take Vermont Forward is Wednesday 9/27, 6 PM, Joe Gainza's office, 73 Main St, Rm 33, doors probably locked after 6.
VIGIL Tomorrow, 9/23 11am-1pm, Montpelier in front of the post office.
takebackvermont.com got interviewed for Liberation, look for an article next week.
Don't miss the official TBVT.org website, they have a very good list of contacts.
Take Back the Netherlands?
13sep00
Looks like civil unions issues dominated the
elections on Tuesday.
Hey, we were Political Site of the Day on September seventh!
Alex Hirka would like to be
King of Vermont.
04sep00
Sorry about the broken link, fan mail will be up shortly.
Realvermonters.com is one
person's approach to TBVT.
The New York
Times had this story here reprinted online in the Rutland Herald.
25aug00
This weblog will be on a short hiatus. Back September 10th. In the meantime, you can occupy yourself by reading some mail sent to tbvt.com and the TakeVermontForward.
Please keep sending mail, even when it's hateful, it's never boring.
17aug00
David Budbill has an online journal called the Judevine Mountain Emailite whose current issue contains a piece about civil unions.
Brian Wightman contributes his pointed editorial: "Is Nazism Alive and Well in Vermont?"
15aug00
A good op-ed piece from Kenneth Saxe in the paper this weekend.
Don't forget the meeting on Wednesday, same time, same place.
14aug00
The VT Civil Unions PAC is a registered PAC to help elect legislators who will keep civil unions the law in Vermont. They have a very good list of Vermont newspapers with email addresses for writing letters to the editor.
VermontCivilUnion.com has a nice list of town clerks, with hours and email addresses where applicable.
11aug00
New co-optation of the TBVT campaign, suggested by a savvy reader.
Out in the Mountains has a helpful Civil Unions FAQ.
10aug00
The meeting last night in Montpelier was kinda disjointed but overall really worthwhile. A lot of good energy and a lot of people with good ideas. There will be one next week, same place, same time.
The article about this website has been loaded on to this website. How meta!
There's a contact form now. Drop a note and send your opinions.
09aug00
If you support civil unions, think about contributing to Vermont Voices for Equality, a project of the Freedom to Marry Task Force.
There's now a comments form, if you have anything you'd like to say.
08aug00
I now have a stack of Vermont -- Keep It Civil bumper stickers. You can get one yourself at Bear Pond Books or the Phoenix Rising Gallery in Montpelier.
Who Lost Vermont? Marty Jezer writes an article on Vermont's write up in the Weekly Standard.
07aug00
An interview with Dick lambert, creator of the signs, in the Burlington Free Press.
06aug00
This Wednesday at 6:30 pm there's going to be a meeting for discussion and production of TBVT counter-signage [Civil Vermont, Share Vermont, Lead On Vermont, others?] at the Unitarian Church on Main Street in Montpelier. I'll be there.
Front page, today's Times Argus "The Take Back Vermont Movement has been beaten to the punch in cyberspace"
05aug00
Take It to the People's committee Vermonters for Traditional Marriage has the results of a straw vote on their site indicating that
Vermonters oppose gay marriage 3 to 1 but only oppose domestic partnership 3 to 2. Either way, the survey, which is broken
down by county, is pretty interesting reading. Apparently TiP also has an educational trust fund where one can make tax deductible
contributions.
CivilUnionGuide.com redirects to GayWeddingGuide.com [note weird Y2K problem with their date, heh]
04aug00
The interview went well, I think, though every now and again I'd go off on some tangent and the reporter would move his notepad under the table where I couldn't see it. The photographer is showing up today. There should be an article in the Sunday paper after which I will never leave my house again.
Put up a few more photos that I took in Montpelier. The Love Your Neighbor Share Vermont people have a really nice thing going, though not enough capital letters on their signs.....
03aug00
Got a lunch date with a reporter from the Times Argus in a few hours. Glad I wore my bright pink tank top today.
02aug00
Found another civil unions weblog, where I found a civil unions poll at Vote.com. Make your voice heard.
Somehow I managed to miss this big party. "We love
(homosexuals), but not their lifestyle." So what do you love? Their unswerving fashion sense? Please!
Overheard: "Me and some of my Marshfield friends got together for a sign painting party, but it got a little crazy and now I have a big sign in my front yard that says WHIZBANG VERMONT"
31jul00
Linked in Metafilter yesterday, cool.
Dropped a note to some locals who I felt might be sympathetic to the cause and got two great bits of info from
UVM prof and B&B owner Jay Moore:
Please note, he calls us spunky!
30jul00
What we're up against:
"If god wanted homosexuality there would have been one
sex and no population on earth. Why do you suppose
only women can give birth? Not by having sex with a
woman!"
Mary Alice Osborn is one of the 150 people that lives in my town and sums up a lot of what I feel about this issue:
It will be impossible for anyone to "take back Vermont"
from me, because Vermont stands for freedom and
justice for all, equal rights for all."
I'm not sure if everyone understands that the reason the Civil Unions bill passed isn't so much about gay rights [though that is important, and many people were lobbying for it on that point alone] but that the Vermont Constitution specifically forbids discrimination against any specific group of people, and that by denying gay people marriage rights, the state was violating its own constitution.
29jul00
Wondering what font those darned signs are in, and how you can help...?
Ken interviews Laurie -- who travelled here from California to tie the knot -- about her civil union, and how she and her partner
were treated by the natives during her stay.
28jul00
A bit of reflection on what's with that slogan.
Town clerks have a weird job in this whole thing. They have to perform the Civil Unions. Some of them get freaky about this. The preferred option for them is to get the assistant clerk to do the paperwork. I mean, being the town clerk is all about upholding the rules and laws of the state, right? Well, some don't think so. Some of them quit. Others, like Susan Fortunati who is also a major player in POST [Property Owners Standing Together] decide to sue. Her and 18 others. Maybe this will mean there will finally be some job openings around here.
27jul00
Just started this page, which will be the trackings of the people who have signs all up and down the street that I live on and most of my local region. The Welcome to Orange sign had a TBVT sign on it, but then someone spray painted pink triangles on it and someone [else?] took it down. Good
Takebackvermont.net has also been registered, I believe by another activist. I can not believe people who would have enough of a campaign going that they would make a zillion signs did not register any domain names.
I went into my local country store and saw a stack of TBVT signs in the back. Half of me wanted to bitch the guy out, and half of me wanted to ask for some for my .com project idea. I did neither, and left without buying anything.
