Responses of Leo Pinson to GLAA 2006 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 1 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 3 |
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, District personnel in both agencies need to better understand and be equally responsive to the GLBT community as they are to heterosexuals.
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?
I am hopeful that the Chief can benefit from training and demonstrate his commitment to improving services to the GLBT community by insisting that his subordinates also improve their understanding of GLBT persons and their concerns. If there is clear evidence provided to me that change couldn’t be accomplished with Chief Thompson, then his tenure should end. The fire department should treat everyone with dignity and respect.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes, it is important the complaints be investigated and resolved promptly. It benefits and alleged victim and the accused equally.
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?
I would not support a blanket restriction against “prostitution-free zones.” If such a zone was needed around a school, church, or residential neighborhood, I believe those areas require legislation that allows police to take action without violating anyone’s constitutional rights. I prefer to deal with the root causes of officer bias rather than legislatively preventing officers from being able to abate a known prostitution nuisance. I have faith that MPD can change, and the great work of Sgt. Parson and increased influence of the GLLU can help prevent incidents of transgendered residents being mistaken for prostitutes.
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?
Absolutely
6. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Yes. I used to volunteer with Joe Izzo at the Whitman Walker Clinic, distributing condoms and information during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. I like to think that my outreach efforts prevented infection and saved lives.
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?
Recently someone stole the computer records for thousands of military personnel, some of whom may have, or certainly could have had their identifies tampered with. It is vitally important for the privacy of people testing positive to remain anonymous. The best way to ensure privacy is to not identify them by name.
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 would likely support a reasonable budget increase for OHR to better manage its workload.
9. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
Absolutely. Resolutions, like the one I received from the City Council for improving conditions in Ward 6, are meant to honor organizations and individuals. Bigotry is not honorable.
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?
As a person in America who appreciates the sacrifices that were made for me to live my life to the fullest, I am fully committed to protecting human rights anytime and anywhere.
Marriage and Family
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes. Same sex couples, especially in medical emergencies and settlements of estates and property, need to power to act on behalf of their partner as would a husband or wife. Gay marriage doesn’t take anything away from how I live my life, or threaten the stability of my own marriage.
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
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
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?
No. Vouchers provide many parents and students with improved options for getting the quality education that DCPS is having a hard time providing. Catholic schools happen to have more placements than the limited number of slots from other participating schools, and to my knowledge District students are improving without feeling “subjected to relentless homophobic teachings.” For now vouchers serve a higher purpose of giving students access to schools with demonstrated academic achievement. My wife attended Catholic school and she is neither Catholic, homophobic, or predisposed to the teachings of that church. I think District children are getting their education without being tainted by religious doctrine.
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?
I oppose the promotion of an abstinence only sex education agenda.
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?
If the owners of the establishments that were displaced can find a suitable place for their businesses, market forces should guide those relocations. In most cases residents may voice their concerns about typical liquor license and operating issues. I won’t support forbidding businesses solely based on sexual orientation.
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?
Complaints against any bar or restaurant should be based on facts and evidence that the complainant(s) is being harmed. If there is no substance to a complaint the issue should be closed. I would support limiting baseless complaints against businesses.
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, the act does not pass constitutional scrutiny. The legislation should focus on limiting access to sexually explicit and/or obscene materials.
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.
I mentioned in the questionnaire that I volunteered at the Whitman Walker Clinic performing outreach and assisting in other ways to improve awareness of HIV and AIDS. I also support SEPs and have worked with Prevention Works to continue their mission. In my former role as the Ward 6 Neighborhood Services Coordinator, I helped Prevention Works gain the acceptance of the Hill East community, near 15th and Massachusetts Avenue SE. The residents were reluctant to have Prevention Works locate their outreach vehicle in the neighborhood in order to provide services and counseling to their clients. The executive director at that time. Paolo Barahona, and I convinced local residents, and the principal of the local elementary school, that prevention was better than allowing IV drug usage to continue without a SEP.
You should also know that I am an officer in the Metropolitan Police Reserve Corps and I have friends, Ofc. Clark Ray and Ofc. Vince Micone in the GLLU. They are qualified, especially Ofc. Ray, to offer character references for me.
Keep up the fight, Leo Pinson
