Responses of Dee Hunter to GLAA 2002 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 2 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 3 ½ |
Public Safety
1. Will you support funding for mandatory gay male, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sensitivity and diversity training including gay and transgender community representatives as a continuing part of the training for all members of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Fire/EMS Department?
Yes I would support funding for mandatory sensitivity training.
2. Metropolitan Police Officers are barred from moonlighting only at bars and sexually oriented establishments. Officers are not barred from working at any other establishments. Will you support legislation that will reverse the Council's ban on moonlighting at bars and sexually oriented establishments?
Yes I would support legislation ending the ban.
3. A few years ago the District enacted a version of Megan's Law that refuses to allow sex offenders to keep themselves off the public registry of sex offenders by demonstrating that they are no longer a danger to the community. A federal judge struck down this provision of the D.C. law as unconstitutional last September. Similar provisions have been struck down by many other federal courts. Will you support a change in Megan's Law to ensure that the registry of sex offenders only includes those who are still dangerous?
Yes. I would support legislaton that would afford an individual the opportunity to demonstrate that they do not pose a danger to the community and therefore should not placed on the registry.
Public Health & AIDS
4. The rate of HIV infections in DC is the highest in the United States, rivaling levels in sub-Saharan Africa. The last time that The DC Council held an oversight hearing on the HIV/AIDS Administration was June 18, 1998. If elected or re-elected to the Council, will you ensure that the Council holds an annual performance oversight hearing on the HIV/AIDS Administration?
I believe that I was the Committee Clerk for the Committee on Human Services when the last oversight hearing on the HIV/AIDS Administration was held. I will pressure the Committee to hold oversight hearings on HAA twice a fiscal year.
5. The Director of the HIV/AIDS Administration, Ron Lewis, is his own boss, also serving as a deputy Health Director. Will you demand that the HIV/AIDS Administration have a full-time Director?
Yes I would demand that a Director be appointed. I would also request that that GLAA be included on the search committee to hire a new Director.
6. The current HIV epidemiological surveillance system discourages people-especially immigrants-from getting tested by requiring both their partial social security number and their country of origin. This potentially threatens their ability to stay in this country. The HIV Unique Identifier System Amendment Act of 2001, B14-0326, would eliminate the partial social security system. Will you vote for the bill and seek a speedy passage?
Yes I would support the Bill. If I were on the Council the Bill would have been passed by now even if I would have had to insert it into the Budget Support Act.
Human Rights
7. Recognizing the significant improvements made in the operations of the Office of Human Rights under then-Director Charles Holman, the Williams Administration granted OHR a significant addition to its FY 2003 budget to increase the number of investigators and other staff so that the case backlog will continue to drop. Will you support such increases in funding for future years as well until complaints are routinely processed within 120 days?
As an attorney I have represented victims of discrimination, including sexual preference discrimination. I would work to secure the resources to necessary to permit OHR to resolve complaints within a period of 160 days.
8. Will you support legislation that will codify the Office of Human Rights' former practice of giving top priority to discrimination complaints filed by people with AIDS or other major life-threatening diseases?
Yes. I would also support legislation to require such complaints be resolved on an expedited time-table.
9. The Council recently confirmed the reappointment of Pierpont Mobley to the D.C. Commission on Human Rights, despite Mr. Mobley's statements during his confirmation hearing indicating a lack of support or understanding of the Commission's ruling against the Boy Scouts' policy of excluding gay men from participating either as Scouts or as leaders. Will you vote against the confirmation of any other nominee to the Human Rights Commission who displays a similar lack of commitment to enforcement of the D.C. Human Rights Law?
Yes.
10. Will you block ceremonial resolutions saluting individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry, including but not limited to the Nation of Islam and the Boy Scouts of America?
I will not vote for ceremonial resolutions for any individual or organization that promotes bigotry
Defending Our Families
11. Will you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes.
12. Will you support legislation in the District similar to Vermont's civil unions law?
Yes.
13. Will you support amending the domestic partnership regulations to recognize the more than 100 couples who registered under Mayor Kelly's September 30, 1992 Directive?
Yes I would do so.
14. Will you support amending the domestic partnership regulations to recognize domestic partnerships and civil unions established in other jurisdictions?
Yes.
Other Issues
15. Will you vote for the "Elimination of Outdated Crimes Amendment Act of 2002," Bill 14-636, which eliminates archaic criminal laws including fornication, adultery and others?
Yes.
16. Will you oppose legislation designed to end nude dancing at any establishment holding a D.C. liquor license or prohibiting such establishments from transferring their nude dancing licenses to different establishments or otherwise further limiting nude dancing in ABC-licensed establishments?
Yes I would oppose such legislation.
17. Will you vote against "The Office of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs Act of 2002," Bill 14-719, which would undermine citizen advocacy by creating official gay advocates under the direction of the Mayor?
Yes.
Record
Your record is part of your rating. Please list any actions that you have taken that may help illustrate your record on behalf of lesbians and gay men.
As the former Clerk to the Council Committee on Human Services I help organize the last oversight hearing of the HIV/AIDS Administration. In this capacity I also help prevent the HIV/AIDS Administration from implementing a names identifier reporting systems. As an attorney I have successfully litigated over a dozen cases on behalf of the victims of sexual preference discrimination.
