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About the Guide
“Gay people are (the minority) everywhere and … the majority nowhere.”
Professor Kenneth Sherrill, director of the Center for Sexuality and Public Policy at Hunter College in New York City.
We all prize Vermont’s rural nature. Yet, isolation is the frequent price we pay for that. We know from both anecdotal and survey information that many LGBT folks are in the closet with their families and their neighbors. There is no one comprehensive resource guide available either to help people find the services they need—or even to find each other.
We talk about the “LGBT community,” but how do you strengthen a minority community of often invisible individuals dispersed across a rural state? The consensus of a 2007 gathering of LGBT leaders in Vermont was loud and clear: a state-wide resource directory.
During the same time period that the Samara Foundation agreed to create a comprehensive resource directory, we were hearing from LGBT business owners. They were longing for connection with their peers as well as a way to promote their businesses. Samara decided to combine the two projects into one all-encompassing resource and The Vermont Gay Guide was born!
As you may know, the Samara Foundation of Vermont is a non-profit community foundation. Revenue from the Vermont Gay Guide allows us to strengthen our role in enhancing the quality of life for Vermont’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens, especially through our grant-making, scholarships and technical assistance efforts.
Suzanne D. Stofflet
President, Samara Foundation of Vermont
