Responses of Renee Bowser to GLAA 2007 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 | 2.5 |
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. It is critical that workers whose mission is to serve the public undergo training to dispel harmful stereotypes and respect the civil rights of all members of our community.
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 will also support sensitivity and diversity training for MPD employees.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes.
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?
Certainly. Counseling and referral for treatment, and sufficient resources for treatment are necessary steps to ameliorate the HIV crisis in the District.
5. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Yes, because condoms prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and save lives.
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?
I would support a private right of action against the District government or the contracting company but not individuals if they were acting in the line of duty on behalf of the District or the contractor.
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. I served two terms as a Commissioner on the DC Commission on Human Rights during which time under funding of the Office of Human Rights was a major concern. The low wage levels at OHR made it difficult to find and maintain motivated and experienced staff.
8. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
I would not support any resolutions or honors for any person or organization with a discriminatory record.
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. As a former Commissioner for the DC Commission on Human Rights and a former civil rights investigator with the state anti-discrimination agency of Pennsylvania, I believe it is critical to educate the public in schools, through public service announcements, and festivals to emphasize to the entire community that discrimination on the basis of gender identity violates DC law.
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?
Yes.
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?
I support the DC Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992. I would support expanding the portion of the program which allows registration to be expanded to marriage.
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 believe that unions under state laws around the nation should be given full faith and credit in DC.
14. Will you oppose legislation giving special benefits to PEPCO until it implements an equitable domestic partner benefit program?
I am unclear what special benefits are being referenced. Any employer in DC which obtains any type of public funding should provide real benefits for the people of DC in return, including living wage jobs and benefits, particularly health benefits. I would not impose greater requirements on PEPCO than other businesses which get governmental benefits.
15. Do you agree that private contractors doing business with the District should be required to provide domestic partner programs?
If the contractors provide health benefits, they should extend them to domestic partners in the same way they extend them to married couples.
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?
I oppose federal and local voucher programs, period. I also oppose any use of governmental money by entities which are not subject to DC or federal civil rights law.
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?
I oppose abstinence only until marriage programs, as I agree they undermine safe sex education. Additionally, such programs are unrealistic.
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?
I believe that gay bars and businesses should be subject to the same regulations as other businesses with retail licenses to sell alcohol. I also believe that gay bars and businesses should be subject to the same rules and conditions as other businesses with comparable business focuses and objectives.
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?
I cannot answer such a broad question without examining the type of complaints to determine whether or not they are baseless. I believe that a resident should be allowed the right to file complaints in accordance with the law. If the complaints are found to be frivolous, than the law should provide for sanctions just as many federal and state laws provide for sanctions if a lawsuit is found to be frivolous. However, a non-meritorious claim is not necessarily a frivolous claim.
Please provide the URL for your campaign website, if you have one. We will include it on our candidate links page.
www.reneebowser.org
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 served two terms as a Commissioner on the DC Commission on Human Rights. During my tenure, I volunteered to staff the Commission table at gay rights festivals. As Union lawyer, I have worked with a local union to protect a worker from discrimination based on sexual orientation.
March 23, 2007
Renee Bowser
(202) 291-3080 (campaign)
