Green Mountain State Update
School superintendent detained at border
After returning to the US from Nicaragua in mid-July, Winooski School District Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria was detained for several hours by US Border Patrol upon reentering the country at a Texas airport; meanwhile, his husband, Cyrus Dundgeon, was “met with hostility while desperately searching for answers about his husband’s status,” according to an NBC 5-TV report. The two men, both US citizens, spoke to the press about their experience, as shown on the NBC-5 broadcast:
“You feel like you’ve been abducted by a gang of aggressive, violent people who are trying to manipulate you and who are lying to you, and while you are being abducted, you know that these people are capable of doing anything to you because they don’t care,” said Chavarria, a naturalized US citizen originally from Nicaragua. He described his interrogation at the Houston Port of Entry at the George Bush Airport as “abusive” and “bizare.”
Chavarria said agents demanded personal information of Vermont public school students in his district, which he repeatedly refused to provide.
“I was threatened with being referred to the FBI. The FBI was mentioned multiple times,” he said. “They also threatened to stain my record so I would never get a job again. They also threatened with an extended detention if I didn’t give them the passwords to the student information or to my district files.”
Said Dundgeon, “I essentially waited for four and a half, five hours until Wilmer was released. All that time, I have no idea what’s going on. Am I going to see him again? Is he going to be taken somewhere?”
School board responds
In response to the detainment of School Superintendent Wimer Chavarria, the Winooski School District Board of Trustees issued, in part, the following response:
“Superintendent Chavarria is an exemplary leader and a beloved member of the Winooski School District community. His commitment to our students, families and staff is unwavering. The Board stands firmly in support of him and his family during this time.
“While we are aware that such detentions are increasingly becoming more common across the country, we must be clear: This is not normal. It is wrong. It is inhumane. It is unjust.
“The Winooski School Board calls upon all Vermonters—and all Americans—to stand in solidarity with Superintendent Chavarria and his family. We urge our elected leaders and federal agencies to investigate this incident and take meaningful steps to prevent such abuses from continuing. No one—especially not a US citizen—should face such treatment at the hands of their government.”
‘Angry Gay Grandpa’ acts out
Also in July, after glueing his hand to a railing at the Pennsylvania capitol building in an effort to protest legislators’ indifference to trans youth suicide, James Lantz (aka the Angry Gay Grandpa) of Vermont was fined over $16K in damages.
“I felt that if the cycle could be interrupted—even by one voice, one story—we might save a life—here, or nationally,” Lantz told Dauphin County Judge William Tully, according to a report by Penn Live. “Time, I believed, was of the essence. I knew I had to act. I also knew my time was limited. I have stage four cancer.”
Reports Penn Live, Lanz had been charged with two felony counts for vandalism and “criminal mischief” and for obstructing an official proceeding (a misdemeanor), but the felony charge was reduced to a misdemeanor as part of a plea deal. He was fined $16,575 for damages and repair, including carpet replacement, wood-trim repair and removal of the glue.
More: angrygaygrandpa.com
Cordes resigns, moves to Canada
State Rep. Mari Cordes (D-Bristol), an openly LGBTQ+ Democrat who has served in the Vermont State House for seven years, resigned on July 4 and is moving to Nova Scotia. She cites political fears and financial uncertainty as her reasons for leaving the state’s legislative body and the country, according to VT Digger.
“It’s the day of my own independence,” Cordes told VT Digger, “in a somber, shaky voice.”
Age 66, Cordes said what spurred her move was an increase in “homophobic attitudes,” including death threats, and concerns the Trump administration will slash Social Security.
In Nova Scotia, Cordes plans to resume her career in nursing.
