Responses of Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler to GLAA 2007 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
PUBLIC SAFETY
1. As a member of the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, 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. All of our residents desire protection, respect, and to have his/her dignity safeguarded.
2. Will you press the Metropolitan Police Department to combat the transphobia entrenched within our police force, expressed in the widespread assumption among police officers that every transgendered person is a prostitute until proven otherwise?
Yes. I have consistently stood up for the dignity and respect of others.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes, and I will seek to fashion an Office with more teeth.
AIDS AND PUBLIC HEALTH
4. 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.
5. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Yes.
6. 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. It is important that privacy is protected so that individuals will feel comfortable seeking testing and receiving the results of testing.
HUMAN RIGHTS
7. 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.
8. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
Yes. Honor should be bestowed upon individuals who have maintained an honorable presence in their community.
9. 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.
10. Do you agree that the Director of the Office of Human Rights should be required to have professional training and experience in civil rights law enforcement?
Not necessarily. What is important is that the person has a burning passion for protecting the rights and dignity of others.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes.
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, however I think that it is important to prepare people and constituencies for the discussion.
14. Will you oppose legislation giving special benefits to PEPCO until it implements an equitable domestic partner benefit program?
Yes.
15. Do you agree that private contractors doing business with the District should be required to provide domestic partner programs?
Yes.
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND YOUTH
16. 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 opposed vouchers because I believe they are yet another way of eroding the struggle for civil/human rights which has included access to public education.
17. As a member of the Committee of the Whole which now has jurisdiction over the public school system, will 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.
CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES
18. As a member of the Public Works and Environment Committee which has jurisdiction over ABC licenses, will 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 have consistently fought against the over concentration of bars, nightclubs and liquor stores in our community because history has proven that too many bars and liquor stores concentrated in one area is counterproductive and does not contribute to the quality of life of the community.
19. 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.
Please provide the URL for your campaign website, if you have one. We will include it on our candidate links page.
www.reverendhagler.com
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 have consistently embraced GLBT congregations and pastors, and I work with Balm and Gilead on the issue of HIV and the Black Church.
