Deadly Discrimination in the Northeast Kingdom 
By Deborah T. Bucknam 

Duane Perry was a sweet natured, decent man who was viciously abused by his wife, Debra Perry. In 1997 Debra fractured Duane’s leg so badly that he required surgery. After Debra broke Duane’s leg, Debra went to Step One, the Orleans County equivalent of Umbrella, claiming abuse by Duane. Like the typical abuser, Debra wanted to deprive Duane of any outside protection he might seek. Like most female abusers, Debra knew she could do that successfully by going to the local domestic violence organization and claiming abuse first. Not only did Debra receive assistance from Step One, but she also obtained free legal assistance from Legal Aid. Duane received neither. When he went to court, his leg was in a cast. Despite that dramatic demonstrative evidence, the court found that both parties were abusers, but Debra was awarded the marital home, custody of the parties’ two young boys, and Duane was allowed only limited contact with his sons. 

I had the privilege of representing Duane Perry in his initial attempts to protect himself and his family. Disheartened by the court’s decision and by the fact that there was no financial or other support for him as there had been for Debra, Duane did not seek abuse protection when Debra continued to abuse him. Several years later, Duane did request and receive custody of his sons—not because of abuse, but because Debra was living with a pedophile. Duane was then viciously murdered at the direction of Debra Perry—just weeks after Debra was ordered to pay Duane child support for his boys.

The criminal proceedings against Duane’s murderers were held in Newport and extensively reported in St. Johnsbury. Despite the fact that Duane was maliciously slandered by the defendants in the criminal proceedings, no domestic violence organization, including Umbrella, expressed outrage at the defendants’ disgusting excuses for domestic violence. 

Umbrella was silent about the Duane Perry case because the organization believes that only women are legitimate victims of domestic abuse. Each year during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Umbrella displays silhouettes of murdered victims of domestic violence. None of the victims displayed are men. Why? A spokeswoman for Umbrella stated two years ago in the Caledonian Record that the reason men victims of domestic violence are not honored is because "They were all abusers themselves." What an astonishing statement! All men who are murdered victims of domestic violence are abusers so Umbrella will not recognize their deaths. Umbrella’s message is unmistakable: male victims of domestic murder deserve their fate. Due process would be too good for them. Their female partners’ self help remedies are A-OK. 

Umbrella also does not help abused men who seek help from the organization because the organization believes, as its spokeswoman said two years ago, that men who request help for domestic violence are themselves abusers. Indeed, Umbrella’s Web site states: "the organization has addressed a broad range of issues impacting women and families, including violence against women…" Men need not apply. 

While Umbrella does not directly advertise its discriminatory policies, its advertising is geared only towards female victims. Moreover, men who have tried to obtain help from Umbrella have been turned away. 

Umbrella also has recently taken over supervising non-custodial parents (mostly fathers) whom the courts have ordered to have supervised parent child contact with their children. Family Tree ran that supervised visitation program successfully for six years. Family Tree had a reputation for treating all parents fairly. However Umbrella made the bogus claim that Family Tree was not a "community based" organization, and therefore Umbrella was awarded the State grant. The result was that for several months, there was no supervised program for parents in St. Johnsbury. Umbrella has finally established its program, called "Family Room", replacing Family Tree. Umbrella has instituted stringent "safety" policies that sound more like visitation in jail. Its brochure for its Family Room program boasts that it has "monitors, alarm systems, a Garrett Super Scanner Metal Detecting Wand, and the Intoxilyzer Alcohol Breath Tester" and that "all visits will take place not only under the watchful eye of our trained monitors, but by extensive safety equipment as well." Umbrella believes one cannot be too careful when dealing with men. 

Now Umbrella seeks public funding and permission to open a shelter for women and children in St. Johnsbury. Umbrella will claim it cannot accommodate male victims of domestic abuse. That is just an excuse for Umbrella’s gender profiling and discriminatory practices. Vermont and the Federal government have enacted laws against discrimination in public accommodations to target organizations that make such excuses. Vermont Statutes provide as follows: "an owner of a place of public accommodation…shall not, because of race, creed, color, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity of any person, refuse, withhold from, or deny to that person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of the place of public accommodation." A similar federal law only applies to discrimination against a person on the basis of race, color or national origin. Vermont has chosen to protect persons in additional categories, including sex.

"Public accommodation" is defined in the Vermont discrimination statute as a "…facility at which services, …advantages, benefits or accommodations are offered to the general public." Umbrella is, by statutory definition, then, a place of public accommodation. By refusing to help men victims of domestic violence, by refusing to honor male murder victims, by refusing to provide shelter for male victims, and by treating men differently than women, Umbrella is violating state law—at taxpayer’s expense. 

To be sure, women need protection from domestic violence as well as support in their efforts to protect themselves and their families. So do male victims of domestic abuse. In my experience, men are reluctant to pursue abuse claims against their partners because they are embarrassed, and they know there is no support for them at Umbrella or any other domestic violence organizations. They feel helpless and ashamed—much like women did nearly 30 years ago when their domestic violence complaints were ignored or minimized. 

No organization, no matter how well intentioned or how powerful, should engage in unlawful discrimination. Bigotry has no place in our society. Umbrella’s gender profiling and discriminatory practices should stop because it is against the law—and because it can have deadly consequences. 

--Deborah Bucknam has been practicing law in Vermont since 1979, and was recently licensed to practice in New Hampshire.