Events Upcoming Events    Past Events Upcoming Events January 2003 Twister and Lube Date:February 2, 2004 Time:7:30 Place:Billings B-163 (May move to another location in Billings) Details:Come have fun with the members of Free to Be.  This event will start our spring semster just like Condoms and Cupcakes started our last semster.  We will be playing twister (yes, some boards will have lube on them) and be having a blast.  Free Condoms, Dental Dams, and lube will be available to pick up at the meeting. February 2004 Translating Identity Conference Date:February 28, 2004 Time:TBA Place:Billings Details:The conference last year was such a hit that we decided to do it again.  The conference is still the planning mode but save the date.  More info will come shortly.  We promise that is will be better than last year!  Translating Identity is a conference focusing on gender and gender identities. Open to the public, this event hopes to reach out the University of Vermont and Burlington communities and educate us all further about transgender issues. With multiple panels to choose from at any time, some panels will be directed towards trans people and others will be for those who are fairly unfamiliar with the transgender movement and the topic of gender identity. This conference allowes us to translate gender identity to both the queer community and its allies Past Events November 2003 Melissa Ferrick Date:November 22 Time:8pm Place:Cook Commons Details:The amazing Melissa Ferrick performed an unbelievable solo concert for the community and UVM students.  The concert went smoothly.  The two winner of the raffle were allowed to spend a few minutes with Melissa Ferrick after the show.  Thank you to all who moved chairs and tables before and after the show.  Their reward was a little time with Melissa Ferrick and a chance for getting things signed.  Melissa Ferric was kind enough to sign our wall again before she left.  Picture will come soon!! National Trans Day of Remembrance Date:November 20 Time:All Day Place:UVM and RU12 Details:The sign that hung outside the Baily-Howe Library was a sombering reminder of how much this world still needs to change.  Students passed out fliers giving facts, statistics, and events taking place to passerbys.  Many stopped and asked question and members gladly educated them to the best of their knowledge.  The day continued with members walking down to the vigil as a group singing songs.  The walk continued with candles and community members around downtown Burlington.  The night ended with a reading of the names followed by an emotional speak out that left few dry eyes. Jennifer Finny Boylan Date:November 11 Time:7pm Place:Williams 301 Details:Jenny Boylan, the author of the acclaimed book She's Not There: the Memoir of a Man Named James Who Became a Woman Named Jenny joined us for a discussion about trans issues.  A few students were luck enough to have a discussion over lunch with Jenny Boylan.  This allowed a very layed back discussion on events and issues students deal with everyday.  That night Jenny Boylan read excerts from her book with a question and answer section at the end.  We would like to thank the Women's Center in bringing Jenny Boylan. Voices Date:November 3 Time:6:30pm Place:Harris/Millis Hall Details:Six members of Free to Be talked to a intimate group of students about issues they face on campus everyday.  After each had spoken a short question and answer session was done.  We hope everyone walked away with something that either surprised them or they want to change about the UVM campus. October 2003 Margaret Cho Date:October 9 Time:9pm Place:Patrick Gym Details:With rainbows flying and more camo then you could imagine, we made our entrance singing "Hey Ho, We love Margaret Cho, Hey Ho, Homophobia has got to go!!"  The crowd received us well, especially since we were packed with candy.  Margaret Cho's performance was outstanding and the lucky few who got to meet her after the show were taken aback by how personable she was. Robin Renee Date:October 7 Time:8pm Place:Fire Place Lounge, L/L Commons Details:To a good size crowd Robin Renee did some old and some new songs.  Allowing all to enjoy. Home Coming Parade Date:October 4 Time:10:30am Place:UVM Main Campus Details:Though the weather was far from ideal we paraded from Baily-Howe Library to Centennial Field.  With a large truck behind us making sure we kept our pace, we proudly passed out candy and condoms to the very few spectators.   We may have been wet but we had a blast. September 2003 Condoms and Cupcakes Date:September 15 Time:7:30pm Place:Billings B-163 Details:We had an amazing turnout of more than 115 people.  We give thanks to all that presented. April 2003 Translating Identity Conference Date: April 12 Time: 9am-6pm Place: Old Mill and Lafayette Details: Translating Identity was a free conference focusing on gender and gender identities. Open to the public, this event hoped to reach out the University of Vermont and Burlington communities and educated us all further about transgender issues. With multiple panels to choose from at any time, some panels were directed towards trans people and others were for those who are fairly unfamiliar with the transgender movement and the topic of gender identity. This conference allowed us to translate gender identity to both the queer community and its allies Gregory Douglass Date: April 9 Time: 7:30 Place: Christi Wright Patterson Rotunda Details: Gregory Douglass was back and better than EVER! The show ROCKED! Queer Visibility Week! Date: April 7-11th Time: TBA Place: UVM, TBA Details: Queer Visibility Week rocked! This year we were EXTRA visible with a SpeakOut, roving rainbow and lots of chalking. March 2003 Mardi Gras Date: March 1 Time: 3pm Place: Church Street, Burlington Details: The Mardi Gras parade in Burlington was a blast! There were tons of themed floats, plenty of beads and lots of flying candy. This year, Free To Be had a float with Outright Vermont. We rocked out the theme of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Stay tuned for PICTURES! February 2003 True Spirit Date: February 14-18th Time: All day and night Place: Washington, D.C. Details: 9 members of the GLBTA drove to Washington, D.C. for the 2003 True Spirit Conference. This conference was an informational and educational conference for people who were born with a female gender assignment, but who identify as males, also known as Female to Male (FTM) transpeople. We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, made memories, and survived the snow (camping). We are looking forward to rocking out at our Translating Identity Conference on April 12th. Stay tuned for pictures! Transecting the Academy Date: Saturday, February 1 Time: 9am-6:30pm Place: Brown University, Providence RI Details: Transecting the Academy was a one day event focusing on how transsexual and transgender undergraduate students', graduate students', and professors' experiences can complicate and expand the curriculum taught in colleges and universities in the U.S. The goal of the event was to bring together transgender and transsexual people and allies in order to create new discourses about trans identities in academia in the U.S., and to jump-start the creation of networks for trans students, professors and administrators. Lacey Jane, Kim, Ethan and Caitlin trucked down to Brown and stayed on the floor of a VERY nice Brown University student. It was a really good conference and got us all riled up for the Trans Conference at UVM. Pictures! January 2003 Free HIV/AIDS Testing Pilot Date: January 30th Time: 10am-2pm Place: The GLBTA Office and Cook Commons Details: In coalition with Vermont Cares, we held 4 hours of free HIV/AIDS testing in Billings. It was a great success! 21 students were tested and we handed out MANY free condoms, dental dams, lube, etc. The pilot was a success, so get ready for regular HIV/AIDS testing at UVM. Thank you Vermont Cares! UVM Day at the Statehouse Date: January 29th Time: 7am-2pm Place: Montpelier, the Statehouse Details: Thanks to the work of Dot Brauer, several members of Free To Be were invited to represent UVM at the 6th Annual UVM day at the statehouse. We met State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding, Lt. Governor Brian Dubie and Governor Jim Douglas, in addition to many others. We also had the opportunity to dine with individual state representatives and senators to discuss our own issues. We learned a lot about Vermont's government and made some good connections. Pictures! Twister and Lube! Date: Wednesday, January 22 Time: 8pm Place: The GLBTA Office Details: Twister and Lube was a success! We handed out lots of free condoms, dental dams, lube, etc. thanks to Vermont Cares. Caitlin made her rainbow cupcakes and we lubed it up! Lets just say that playing twister with donated "Penthouse" lube is not as easy as it looks. Pictures! Champlain Valley Union Sophomore Summit Date: Friday, January 3 Time: 12pm Place: Champlain College Details: 5 members of the GLBTA presented to high school sophomores from Champlain Valley Union about our club and about queer issues in high school and on campus. December 2002 Gregory Douglass! Date: Wednesday, December 4 Time: 8pm Place: Christi Wright Patterson Rotunda Details: Gregory Douglass and the wonderful Jeremy rocked out in the "Rotunda". This event was on the last day classes for the fall 2002 semester and had a huge turnout. Pictures! November 2002 National Transgender Day of Remembrance Date: Wednesday, November 20 Time: All Day Place: Bailey/Howe, Marsh Lounge and Union Station Details: The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in dozens of cities across the world. At the University of Vermont, we organized a SpeakOut and rally on the steps of Bailey Howe (which was cancelled at the last minute unannounced to us), a "Trans 101" panel, which was led by Ethan, Clark and Jakob, followed by a candlelight vigil to Union Station where a service and SpeakOut were held. It was a very intense and emotional day for some of us. Pictures! HIV/AIDS Testing Date: Monday, November 11 Time: 5pm Place: Vermont Cares Details: Members of Free To Be went to Vermont Cares together to get the free Orasure Oral HIV/AIDS tests. We did this mainly to see what it is like in preparation for our free on-campus HIV/AIDS testing, which we plan to begin during the Spring 2003 semester. October 2002 National Coming Out Week (NCOW) Date: Week of October 6-12 Time: All Day Place: All Over Details: Most of the events for NCOW were planned mainly by LGBTQA Services. Free To Be hosted the Coffeehouse in L/L on Wednesday, October 9th with Katherine Quinn. Some members of Free To Be were on the NCOW planning committee. It was a great week! Pictures! September 2002 Painting the Office Date: One September Saturday Time: All Day Place: Free To Be Office Details: Thanks to the genius idea of Bill and Ethan during Queer Lunch/Brunch, we decided to paint the office...PURPLE. Thanks to Ethan, Bill and Steph, the office was cleared out, painted and then re-arranged. Click on the thumbnails to view pictures in a new window and close the window to return to the Free To Be web site. Welcome Back Picnic Date: Saturday, September 14 Time: 1-6pm Place: Allen House Details: This event was sponsored by LGBTQA Services, who rocks our world (yeah Dot)! It was a really great way to open the semester with a lot of good fun, fun games, karaoke and more. Click on the thumbnails to view pictures in a new window and close the window to return to the Free To Be web site. Condoms and Cupcakes Date: Wednesday, September 4 Time: 8pm Place: GLBTA Office Details: Condoms and Cupcakes was our opening social meeting of the Fall 2002 semester. We gave out free condoms, lube, dental dams, female condoms, etc. and had a full barrier demo. Then we did a brief "check-in". Finally, we all made rainbow colored paper hands to decorate the office with. Caitlin made her special recipe of rainbow colored cupcakes so the name was complete. We had a huge turnout and met a lot of new faces, many of who turned out to be permanent new members! Click on the thumbnails to view pictures in a new window and close the window to return to the Free To Be web site. May 2002 Spring Retreat! Date: Friday May 3-Saturday May 4 Time: Overnight Place: The Outing Club Cabin Details: What could be better? We all trekked to the Outing Club Cabin in two cars and a pick-up truck. It was a small group, but we all made a lot of memories and had a rockin time (except for that incident with the heat at about 4 AM...). It was a blast! Click on the thumbnails to view pictures in a new window and close the window to return to the Free To Be web site. April 2002 Queer Visibility Week Date: April 7-12th Time: All Week Place: Bailey Howe, Christi Wright Patterson Rotunda, Marsh Lounge Details: Queer Visibility Week was a blast! We opened the week with a lot of rainbow chalking all over campus. Other events included an excellent "roving rainbow" (7 Free To Be members dressed in rainbow colors, handing out skittles with pride slogans taped to them), a rockin performance by Zoe Lewis, and a Queer Visibility Dance (complete with auction), DJed by Caitlin. These pictures are from the dance. Click on the thumbnails to view pictures in a new window and close the window to return to the Free To Be web site.