Responses of A. Scott Bolden to GLAA 2006 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 2 | 2 | 0.5 | 0 | 4.5 |
Public Safety
1. Will you support funding for mandatory gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) sensitivity and diversity training for all members of the Fire/EMS Department?
Yes. I support funding for GLBT sensitivity training for all members of the Fire/EMS Department. As a former prosecutor, I spent 3 years as a domestic violence unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office where similar training was fundamental and prosecuted hate crimes against members of the GLBT community. This is a fundamental right of all citizens and with first responders, such training is critical to their effective and efficient delivery of services. I also would support the implementation of the Tyra Hunter Human Diversity Training series for the Fire/EMS Department.
2. Will you call on the new Mayor to appoint a new Fire/EMS Department Chief who is committed to rooting out the Department’s deeply entrenched homophobia and transphobia?
Yes. The present fire chief has a litany of management failures and needs to be replaced and we can add his level of insensitivity to the list along with the Rosenbaum debacle. It should not be tolerated and I will call on the new major to replace the fire chief and have called on the existing mayor to remove the fire chief and appoint one who respects the human rights of all residents.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes. Historically the office has had a back log of cases and it is wrong and unfair. We need to and can do better. As a former prosecutor of hate crimes and a criminal defense attorney who has represented clients before similar government agencies, I will lend my expertise and leadership to supporting additional funding, but also to invest in training the staff and managers to be efficient and effective in their review and resolution of these complaints.
4. Will you oppose legislation creating so-called “prostitution-free zones,” which would give the police, who routinely assume that every transgendered person is a prostitute until proven otherwise, virtually unlimited power to harass our transgendered residents?
No one should be harassed by the police simply because they are transgender--it is discrimination and it is wrong. Any legislation that unfairly singles out one group over another, denies certain rights to citizens or their human dignity, I will oppose. We need to retrain law enforcement officers to avoid such conduct, but more importantly we need to do more outreach to the GLBT community for job training, entrepreneurship and wealth building opportunities so that members of the GLBT community have the same equal opportunities as other citizens.
AIDS and Public Health
5. Do you agree that the drive to make HIV testing routine among District residents should include funding for counseling and referrals to treatment facilities for those testing positive?
Yes. The numbers are staggering and more must be done--beyond testing. Once tested, knowledge may be power, but without additional funding for counseling and treatment, we cannot end this epidemic we are facing. Moreover, we need service providers that are committed and well trained in testing, counseling and treatment to insure that those infected are receiving the very best care and that collectively, we are reducing the number of new cases, rather than seeing no movement or an increased number of cases in the face of substantial funding.
6. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Yes. The district's failure to fully distribute the goal of 600,000 condoms annually is completely unacceptable and demonstrates a real lack of committment to saving lives and effectively addressing the HIV/AIDS crises in DC. A comprehensive communication, education and distribution plan must be developed and implemented to correct this failure. Not having a condom should never be an excuse for having unprotected sex and transmitting the virus from one person to another.
7. The District is being forced by the federal government to switch from a unique identifier system to a names reporting system for people testing positive for HIV. Will you support legislation to strengthen our medical privacy laws, such as by creating a private right of action for those whose confidentiality is violated by District government employees or contractors?
Yes. DC employees and contractors should be terminated and even prosecuted, if shown to be purposeful in the inappropriate distribution of medical information on any person with the HIV/Aids virus. Without strengthening these laws and protecting those infected with HIV/Aids, there can be no trust between HIV/AIDs patients and the government or medical providers to insure that those in need of testing, counseling and treatment will seek assistance from the government and medical providers. This is critical to addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis in the District.
Human Rights
8. Will you support a budget for the Office of Human Rights (OHR) large enough to allow it to reduce to 270 days the average gap between the time that a discrimination complaint is filed and the time OHR issues a finding of probable cause?
Yes. The budget should be larger, but the staff should be increased and well trained to be as efficient and as effective as possible in processing these claims, mediating, settling and/or making of findings after the hearing process. The OHR and the DC government owe the citizens a lesser time frame for resolving these kinds of claims. And over an elongated period of time, witnesses become unavailable and memories fade--all contributing to the demise of the integrity of these cases.
9. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
Yes. I will not vote to support any organization or individual where it is found or confirmed that they have engaged in any level of bigotry.
10. Are you committed to publicizing and enforcing the provisions of the D.C. Human Rights Act forbidding discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression?
Yes. It is the law and we must now be vigilant in the enforcement of the law. I will work diligently to make sure the law is enforced.
Marriage and Family
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
I support the right of members of the GBLT community to marry one another, but government should refrain from attempting to recognize marriages between partners of the same sex given the position of the Administration and the majority of the members of Congress. Nevertheless, I will continue to strongly support legislation strengthening and expanding the existing domestic partnership program to include all marital rights under D.C. law.
12. Will you support legislation in the District to continue expanding the existing domestic partnership program to include all relevant rights and responsibilities of marriage in D.C. law?
Yes and we have a long way to go. There are 1138 rights, benefits and privileges related to marriage and our domestic partnership laws should match theses rights, beyond the 212 rights in DC. I believe that every marital right conveyed upon marriage between heterosexual couples, should be conveyed to GLBT couples through strengthening and the expansion of the District's Domestic Partnership laws.
13. Will you support the legislative and/or regulatory changes necessary to ensure that the District recognizes civil unions, domestic partnerships and similar legal relationships established in other jurisdictions?
Yes. I will continue to look for ways to strengthen civil unions and domestic partnerships under DC law.
Public Education and Youth
14. Do you oppose both federal and local voucher programs that fund students in religious schools that are beyond the protections of the D.C. Human Rights Act?
Yes. I have consistently opposed vouchers as an unnecessary attack on public schools by conservatives and right winged republicans. The voucher program in DC and elsewhere drains necessary funds and students from the public school system and this is wrong. We need to focus laser like on building a high quality public education system in the District of Columbia. Our public dollars should remain and be invested in public institutions and out public schools.
15. Do you oppose the use of either federal or District taxpayer funds to promote “abstinence only until marriage” sex education that undermines safer-sex programs by discouraging the use of condoms and that effectively tells gay and lesbian students that they must remain celibate forever because they may not legally marry?
Yes. A comprehensive approach to sex education is the best and most realistic approach to teaching our young people to about abstinence, anatomy, contraception, homosexuality, sexual activity, parenting and contraceptive use. As a parent of 11 year old twin daughters, I want them and other kids to be informed and smart about about these issues through the comprehensive sex education and parental discussions. Gay students ought not be excluded from this information, or because they may not be able to legally marry one another. Abstinence is a very limited discussion and the fact of the matter is that a substantial amount of young people are sexually active, are going to be sexually active and in engaging in sexual activity need to be have safe sex.
Consumers and Businesses
16. Do you support the relocation of the many gay bars and businesses that were displaced by the new ballpark, even if local NIMBYs and homophobes oppose them?
Yes. I support legislation to relocate these business and will work closely with the community and these business on the best relocation for them to succeed.
17. Will you support legislation to curb the abuses of NIMBYs who are now allowed to file an endless series of baseless complaints to harass or extort bars and restaurants?
Yes. We need balance and fairness and the recognition of protection of the rights of business and community concerns. As a community leader and business leader and lawyer who has represented both sides of these kinds issues, I would work closely with all vested parties to reasonably and fairly resolve these issues.
18. Do you oppose the Youth Protection from Obscene Video Games Act (B16-0125), a clone of other laws that have consistently been struck down by the courts on constitutional grounds?
I am aware of the bill, but not the details. I understand the concerns and goals of parents and legislators to eliminate these games. I will research and evaluate the data and review the legal decisions outline by GLAA to determine what is the best approach to addressing these issues. Furthermore, if the legislation is unconstitutional and been struck down in other jurisdictions, it would be difficult for me to support it.
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 gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders.
a. As Chair of the DC Democratic Party, I led the fight on two occasions during my tenure to add two Gay democratic seats to the party rolls from Gertrude Stein and got it done --the first state party to do so in the history of the country;
b. Under my leadership of the DC Democratic Party, twenty-five percent of the DC delegation to the DNC in 2004 were members of the GLBT community--probably the highest percentage of any state delegation;
c. Under my leadership of the DC Democratic Party, we had members of the GLBT community who were on the executive committee and Wanda Alston was the Party's convention whip for DC;
d. I have donated my time, money and resources to members of the GLBT community who are living with HIV/AIDS;
c. I supported the DC Coalition in their fight to participate in the Millions More Movement March; enjoy the political support of many of its members; have financially supported the DC Coalition and Gertrude Stein organization over the years;
d. Grew up in a family that did outreach to GLBT college students and professors at a small liberal arts college in Lockport, Illinois in the 1970's.
