Responses of Will Cobb to GLAA 2006 Questionnaire
for D.C. Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 2 | 4 | 1.5 | 0 | 7.5 |
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 will strongly support funding for mandatory sensitivity training on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) issues for all members of the Fire and Emergency Management Services Departments as well as the Metropolitan Police Department and throughout all levels of our government in the District of Columbia. Additionally, I will advocate for restoration of sensitivity training of all veteran officers in MPD. Its discontinuation in 2000 cannot be left to stand. It is essential that the District implement effective, sustained sensitivity programs.
As I canvass Ward 6, I hear far too often that many people in our city – especially members of the GLBT community – feel that government is not sensitive to their needs. Our city’s level of commitment to sensitivity and diversity training for all governmental workers reflects the commitment of the city itself to the dignity of all people.
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, I will strongly urge our new Mayor to appoint a Fire/EMS Chief who is totally committed to rooting out homophobia and transphobia evident in the Department. Prejudice or discrimination against anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, have no place in our city government and I will continue to work hard everyday to eradicate it wherever it is found.
The horrific denigration of Tyra Hunter more than 10 years ago, and the failure of the District to properly atone for it for years, must serve as a moral mandate for us to vigorously promote tolerance and acceptance – especially in our agencies charged with protecting the safety of each and every citizen. The department’s mission is clear and inclusive: “to provide fire protection and medical attention to residents and visitors in the District of Columbia.”
I will provide active leadership toward creating an environment that embraces sensitivity efforts such as that attempted by Kenda Kirby. The intolerant reaction to Ms. Kirby as documented in the investigative report by the Office of Human Rights, and the lack of leadership to tackle that intolerance, are very disturbing.
Yes, the unwillingness of the Chief to combat the perpetuation of prejudice and bigotry in his department demands that the Council exercise vigilant oversight of the implementation of a long overdue GLBT sensitivity training program for all the employees of the department.
Finally, I wish to add that I will be outspoken for openness, transparency and responsiveness by government agencies. The fact that there was even a need for GLAA to file a FOIA request back in 2004 for the Department’s diversity training manual – the substance of which was shown to be wholly inadequate – is contemptuous not only of the GLBT community, but of the very notion of public service in the first place.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes. I will support an expanded budget for the Office of Police Complaints (OPC) to avoid reverting back to the time when the office had a large backlog of cases and the citizenry was not well served. The effectiveness of the OPC has made the Metropolitan Police Department more accountable to all the citizens of our city, including the GLBT community, and I will support appropriation of sufficient funds necessary to respond effectively to the number of complaints. Failure to provide the OPC with the resources it needs to get the job done would be a denial of justice.
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?
Yes, I will oppose “prostitution-free zones” legislation – or whatever its purported title might be – that can be reasonably expected to result in members of the MPD harassing transgendered residents.
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?
I definitely agree that instituting routine testing for HIV should be accompanied by expanded funding for counseling and referrals to treatment facilities for anyone who tests positive. It is unconscionable and an egregious violation of good mental health policy to not implement both components. Further, lack of counseling can lead to behavior that is likely to result in worsening their medical condition. If the humanitarian argument doesn’t hold enough sway for some, they might want to understand the reality that District taxpayers incur greater financial obligation due to this negligence.
6. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Yes, I am committed to expanding the District’s condom distribution program to prevent and stop the spread of all sexually transmitted diseases. I hesitate to say that I am committed to continuing the program only because it has been inadequate. As GLAA has pointed out, the District distributed 290,000 condoms in 2004 – less than 50% of its goal of 600,000 condoms, and then managed to distribute only 125,000 condoms in 2005. The reason for this could not possibly have been less need for condoms.
What is particularly disturbing is the increased rate of HIV infection among our youth. My opponent, Mr. Wells, a member of the District Board of Education, indicated in his 2002 survey response to GLAA that he supported the condom availability program in the schools. That’s all well and good, but it is confounding Mr. Wells failed to recognize that the program had already withered away by then – “fallen by the wayside” as GLAA wrote – and that a concerted commitment was necessary to revitalize the “sporadic” program.
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. I will absolutely support any well-drafted legislation which strengthens our medical privacy laws and insures and protects the confidentiality of all persons, including those who test positive for HIV. Creating a private cause of action for those whose confidentiality is violated by District government employees or contractors is one solution to strengthen District medical privacy laws. I would support legislation such as this. In addition, I believe there are other ideas that we must explore to insure our citizens’ medical privacy and confidentiality.
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. I will support budget appropriation for the Office of Human Rights (OHR) large enough to allow the OHR to reduce to no more than 270 days the total amount of time it takes from when a discrimination complaint is filed to when the OHR issues a finding of probable cause. I would be remiss to not point out that Mr. Wells’ answer to the 2006 primary survey reveals his lack of understanding of the seriousness of this problem as he apparently believes the amount of time it takes now is 270 days. If that were the case, the question by GLAA would not have been raised.
9. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
Yes. I do not, have not and will not support bigotry in any shape or form.
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. I am totally committed to assisting in publicizing and enforcing the provisions of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act which forbid discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. As I have stated throughout my campaign, I oppose discrimination in all of its forms.
Marriage and Family
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes. I fully support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex in the District of Columbia and beyond. Further, I would vocally oppose any effort to write discrimination against GLBT citizens into the United States Constitution or the District of Columbia Code. I am totally committed to fighting for the rights of all citizens to marry and raise a family and this includes members of the GLBT community in our city. On a personal note, I desire that the individual who served as the best man at my wedding have the same right, opportunity, and happiness that he helped me pursue five years ago.
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. I support legislation in the District of Columbia that grants to domestic partners, including same sex partners, the same rights and privileges as granted to married heterosexual couples. I would strongly support legislation that continues to expand the existing domestic partnership program in our city.
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 vigorously support legislation and/or regulatory changes necessary to insure that the District of Columbia recognizes all civil unions, domestic partnerships and similar legal relationships established in other jurisdictions. To not do so would be simply discriminatory and wrong.
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?
The federally-mandated school voucher program is an offensive violation of the right of the people of the District of Columbia to self-government, particularly as we champion freedom around the world.
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, I oppose the use of either federal or local taxpayer funds to promote an “abstinence only until marriage” sex education policy. While I support advocating abstinence for young persons as one component of a comprehensive sexual education program, it is unrealistic in our world today to strictly promote to our youth only this one type of sexual education. Rather, we should employ a comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy which in addition to abstinence, also provides our youth with the information and protection that they need and deserve should they decide – as so many do – to become sexually active before marriage. I oppose discouraging the use of condoms by anyone who is sexually active, including gay and lesbian students, at any age. To do otherwise puts our student’s health at grave risk.
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 the relocation of all businesses, gay or otherwise, displaced by the new baseball stadium, in a process that includes healthy community involvement. It is my belief that working together, the Council, the citizenry and the displaced businesses can reach agreement as to where these businesses can relocate. I further believe that the Council should work diligently toward assisting these businesses in relocating as soon as possible. To do otherwise is to deny these business owners, displaced by action of the District of Columbia government, their right to maintain a business.
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. I will support such legislation as I believe that all businesses should be treated fairly. If, as GLAA raises, a particular complainant against a business is found multiple times to be without merit, such activity should be legally disallowed as an interference with the right to conduct commerce.
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?
Yes, I oppose legislation which disingenuously purports to protect adolescents and which has been consistently struck down by the courts as unconstitutional.
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.
For Immediate Release
September 26, 2006
Contact: Dennis Jaffe, 202-232-2525
Will Cobb, 202-577-7046
Supports 2 Gay Potential Military Enlistees
Cobb Calls Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy, “Unacceptable”
Will Cobb today joined ranks with the Right to Serve campaign in front of a U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Station, calling for the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. The event featured two potential enlistees, Mandy Craig and Alexandra Douglas-Barrera, as well as Ms. Craig’s partner, a former member of the armed forces who told of her receiving numerous commendations and high honors before being discharged from duty. Cobb said, “I tip my hat to both of you for your courage and for your desire to serve our country.”
Cobb said he is proud of his military service and of the men and women with whom he served. He recounted in detail a life-threatening situation involving a nor’easter during his service. “When people’s lives are on the line,” Cobb said, “the last thing you care about is whether your shipmate next to you is gay or straight. I cared about their patriotism and their performance. I cared about whether or not they were qualified to get the job done and help the unit get its mission accomplished safely.”
“Gay men and women across this country are doing great deeds of service in their communities everyday,” said Cobb. He asked, “How can we prevent them from serving in one of our most honored traditions, the call to arms, protecting our liberty, freedom, and our very way of life?” He also noted, “How ironic that we have gay and lesbian Americans fighting to protect our liberties while being denied their own.”
Cobb said, “Israel integrates gays and lesbians in its armed forces, as do 23 other countries, including Great Britain. We’re supposed to be the most ardent defender in the world of freedom and liberty. We need every qualified sailor we can find to serve. We can’t be concerning ourselves with people’s sexual orientation. We should be focused on whether or not they’re qualified to defend this country – period.”
Both women observed the recruitment office to be oddly shut down. Cobb noted, “Freedom is not fully shared by DC residents in more ways than one. We are denied the right to be fully represented in Congress. Plus, if you’re gay or lesbian, you can’t openly serve your country in the military. The policy is unacceptable and it does not advance our security interests.”
Will Cobb’s background in the Coast Guard
Will Cobb served as the highest ranking cadet in his class at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, from which he graduated in 1993. He served two tours at sea aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter DILIGENCE and the U.S. Coast Guard BLOCK ISLAND. During his time afloat, he was instrumental in the rescue of over 3,000 people, several narcotics busts, and several environmental protection cases. For his outstanding service, he was awarded the Coast Guard Commendation Medal, the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, the Coast Guard Humanitarian Service Medal, and Letter of Commendation, amongst many other awards. He spent his last year of service as an instructor at the Coast Guard’s Law Enforcement School. He remains active with the Coast Guard as a member of the Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association’s Board of Directors and as President of the Capital Region Alumni Club.
