Press Release
WINDSOR COUNTY, VERMONT— Now that Pride month is over, what are some ways to continue showing support for the LGBTQ+ community? The Mt. Ascutney Prevention Partnership (MAPP) and the Green Peak Alliance (GPA) are proud to announce the release of the 4-part docuseries Community Connections: The LGBTQ Perspectives Project. The series, directed by 2018 Thetford Academy alum Clare Swanson, shows ways to offer support to the LGBTQ+ community year-round. Clare describes the project stating, “As a queer filmmaker, it’s important to me to elevate the voices and perspectives of LGBTQ+ individuals through my work for those who want to understand and support our community but don’t know where to start.”
To access episodes, videos of full interviews with project participants, and additional resources, visit: https://greenpeakalliance.org/inthemedia/videos/lgbtqperspectives/
In the first episode, An Introduction, subject matter expert Davey Shlasko of Think Again Training and Consulting answers questions many have about gender, pronouns, how to be more supportive of LGBTQ+ people, and more. The 12 amazing individuals interviewed for the series are introduced. (29 minutes)
Episode Two: In Community and Belonging, the interviewees explore what young queer and trans people need from their communities, and what they bring to their communities. Essential watching for anyone who wants to create a more supportive environment for LGBTQ+ youth — including peers, parents, school staff, health care and service providers, rec department and afterschool program staff, and caring community members. (26 minutes)
Episode Three: For many, it is easy to see reflections of themselves in the characters that populate books, TV shows, and movies. But when LGBTQ+ people look to media, what do they see? In Seeing Ourselves in Media, the interviewees discuss current media representation and offer up some of their favorite picture books, young adult novels, TV shows, and films that feature positive LGBTQ+ representation. Visit the show page on the GPA website for lists of media picks from each of the interviewees https://greenpeakalliance.org/inthemedia/videos/lgbtqperspectives/ (21 minutes)
Episode Four: Kimberlé Crenshaw, Columbia and UCLA law professor, coined the term intersectionality more than three decades ago. In a February 2020 interview with Time magazine, she described intersectionality as “a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.” Intersectionality, the final episode explores this lens as it applies to the experiences of queer and trans people, particularly people of color and neurodivergent individuals. (23 minutes)
According to the Library of Congress, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. The Stonewall Uprising was a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States.