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Mayor opposes bill to make gay affairs office permanent (The Washington Blade) 07/15/05 GLAA testifies against Office of GLBT Affairs Act 07/07/05 GLAA to Council: Honor Wanda Alston's memory, but not with statutory LGBT Office 03/31/05 GLAA statement on death of Wanda Alston 03/17/05 Rosendall: Saying goodbye to Wanda Alston (Bay Windows) 03/24/05 |
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GLAA corrects Post on Office of GLBT Affairs Act
GAY AND LESBIAN ACTIVISTS ALLIANCE OF WASHINGTON
Fighting for Equal Rights Since 1971
P. O. Box 75265
Washington, D.C. 20013
(202) 667-5139
July 22, 2005
Joe Davidson, Editor
District Extra
The Washington Post
1150 15th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20071
dcextra@washpost.com
To the Editor:
Contrary to the impression left by the July 21 "District Notebook," local gay activists are not united in support of the proposed legislation creating a cabinet-level Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Affairs.
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), the oldest continuously active gay and lesbian rights organization in the nation, has opposed this bill from the outset. The new office would waste taxpayers' money and undermine the kind of non-partisan, independent advocacy that GLAA has long provided.
For a quarter century, the District's gay and lesbian community has been represented at all levels of the District government, currently with two D.C. Council members, the Attorney General, and many ANC commissioners. Our home rule government has enacted numerous pro-gay laws and regulations, more often than not following GLAA initiatives.
Unfortunately, these laws and regulations have not always been effectively enforced, which has required GLAA to battle several District agencies over the years. Many of these battles dragged on for far too long because our mayors have had a tendency to be blindly loyal to incompetent and/or biased department chiefs. Under such circumstances, the proposed new office could not be expected to advocate on behalf of our community against other parts of the same administration.
Having no responsibility to enforce any laws or regulations on its own, the proposed new office would have little to do but promote the political program and re-election prospects of whoever is Mayor at the time.
We don't need it.
Sincerely,
Richard J. Rosendall
Vice President for Political Affairs
