After moving to Bennington, Vermont roughly 30 years ago, Lisa Carton couldn’t help but feel lost and disconnected toward her neighborhood. Instead of not acting she decided to take a huge step in the right direction by starting her own organization: Queer Connect. The organization is for “all things LGBTQ right here, in and around Bennington, Vermont,” she told the Bennington Banner.
Carton’s vision for Queer Connect is to have the new group open to all—even those who would consider themselves allies.
One interesting aspect of Queer Connect is that it helps members be knowledgeable about LGBTQ history. For example, Carton created a card game “Queer Pop-Up,” where the objective of the game is to “educate people on the existence of LGBTQ history and culture as well as to increase visibility of the group.”
Her drive for change doesn’t stop there. Carton intends on starting a radio show at Bennington College, WQWH—We’re Queer We’re Here,” partnering with local LGBTQ youth in schools and with Alliance for Community Transformations (ACT) to address LGBTQ youth that may need additional support, and establishing a Bennington Pride Parade at the end of the summer.
Because her organization is inclusive, she intentionally used the word “queer” as part of her organization’s name because “’queer” is an umbrella term that encompasses anyone who may feel out of place,” reports the Banner. She even went a step further to tell the Banner that queer is “an apt name for members of a group who often struggle with their identity, especially when parts of society still do not accept those are “different.”
Queer Connect aims to be more than an organization; rather, its presence for the LGBTQ community within Bennington, Carton hopes, will be a home away from home.
For more on Queer Connect, send an email to queerconnect@yahoo.com.
