New Vermont Fund Underscores
Gay and Lesbian Contributions
By Chris Costanzo

Back in May 2005, Bethel residents Tom Bivins and Bennett Law joined with Tim Palmer of Williston to legally incorporate the Gay and Lesbian Fund of Vermont.

The fund received federal tax-free status in February 2006. Its stated purpose is to raise awareness of the important charitable contributions made by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Vermonters, and by those who sympathize with their desire and willingness to support their communities.

The fund’s web site www.glfundvt.org, notes that individual gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Vermonters have been supporters of such causes as the arts, education, literacy, environment, aging and humane programs. By joining forces through the fund, they can now make a stronger public statement of their support.

The fund makes gifts to non-profit organizations as designated by the donors to the fund, underscoring the positive and constructive contributions through charitable giving from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community to the community at large.

A stimulus for creating the fund was the persistence of "Take Back Vermont" signs that sprouted seven years ago when the Civil Unions law was passed.

"To me, those signs, and the passion that has driven people to keep them up, suggest a sense of loss, and a cry to recover something that has been taken from the people," Law told The Herald.

Law said he struggled for a long time trying to understand just what had been taken that now needs to be "taken back." He noted that providing the right of civil unions or civil marriages to some citizens doesn’t deprive that right to others.

"Still, I got the impression," he said, "that some Vermonters believe that somehow gays and lesbians want only to get things from the state, but don’t want to give to the community."

The Gay and Lesbian Fund of Vermont is intended to disabuse people of that misconception. Since the fund began operating, it has made over 125 awards to over 85 different nonprofit organizations. Awards have ranged in size from $20 to $1,000. Local recipients include Friends of the Kimball Library, Chandler Center for the Arts, Gifford Medical Center, Clara Martin Center, White River Valley Ambulance, Randolph Senior Center, and the Bethel Library. Numerous other non-profit organizations in communities throughout Vermont, as well as a number of national and international causes, have also been beneficiaries of the fund. 

In addition, the fund, through its "Out for Good" program, coordinates volunteer efforts with other nonprofit organizations. "Out for Good" has already organized a work detail for a Habitat for Humanity project in Swanton, donated over 24 hours of volunteer time to Vermont Public Radio pledge drives, and fielded a team in the Vermont CARES Champ Ride.This has proven to be a popular way for people to contribute to causes they value in ways other than by donating money.

The fund has signed a three-year contract to sponsor programming on Vermont Public Television (VPT). According to Law, the partnership has worked out well for both VTP and the fund. He said that VPT gets much-needed sponsorship support, and the fund gains more visibility that indicates how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Vermonters are contributing to the fabric of life in Vermont. 

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