Responses of Greg Rhett to GLAA 2007 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 1.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3.5 |
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, but I would not stop there. I strongly believe that, as an elected official of the District of Columbia, it would be incumbent upon me to speak out on the importance of sensitivity and respect for fellow citizens in various fora. Additionally, sensitivity and diversity training should not be limited to Fire and EMS.
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, see my response above. This is the reason sensitivity and diversity training must run across the board. Many members of the transgender community engage in prostitution as a means of survival due to hiring and job discrimination. We must stamp this out in the District of Columbia.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes, unless the necessary resources are provided to fund our initiatives and regulations, they become sad jokes.
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, this is a no-brainer. Providing counseling and treatment options are essential components of the continuum of prevention and care.
5. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Absolutely Yes! This issue will be one of my first priorities. The HIV infection epidemic affecting so many Ward 7 residents must be immediately addressed. The proper usage of condoms is a proven and essential feature in any sound HIV prevention effort. I remember when condoms were first introduced into the high schools and select junior high schools as well as into the District’s correctional system in 1993. I am concerned to hear that there may be problems today with the distribution of condoms at the D.C. Jail. I would investigate this to ensure that this is not the case and if found to be true that corrective actions are taken. Unfortunately, our prisoners who have been shipped out of the city are subject to the regulations of those facilities. I would also seek to ensure that our school nurses, who distribute condoms to our young people, are properly trained to dialogue with the young people in non-judgmental ways.
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, I would be supportive of strengthening existing laws, if necessary. There are already consequences for violating privacy and confidentiality of clients and patients. If increasing penalties for such violations would assuage the public’s concerns, I would be supportive.
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 believe that unless the necessary resources are provided to fund our initiatives and regulations, they become jokes.
8. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
Yes, bigotry should have no place in our society. As an African-American I am very intimate with the negative affects of bigotry. And I will not promote or support any others who promote any sort of bigotry.
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, our laws and regulations must be enforced. And I am committed to enforcing Human Rights laws which forbid discrimination of any sort, against anyone.
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?
I believe the Director of the Office of Human Rights should have relevant experience and training for the position. I do not think that necessarily requires civil right law enforcement.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes, marriage is a civil and legal institution and should be allowable for adult citizens. In addition to heterosexism and homophobia in society, I believe much of the anguish around marriage between individuals of the same sex lies around religion and the church ceremony. Most people are unaware that marriage for most of history was not performed in a religious context in church. Marriage ceremonies in churches became popular as people sought to emulate the pageantry of royals. I believe that pastors of churches should retain the right to determine who might marry in their churches just as they do today for couples of the opposite sex.
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.
14. Will you oppose legislation giving special benefits to PEPCO until it implements an equitable domestic partner benefit program?
Respectfully, I would have to study this issue. I respect your organization and the work you do too much to pander to you without studying this matter more. However, as a resident of Eastland Gardens, I will share that we and the River Terrace Community also have a personal issue with PEPCO’s Benning Road Power Plant and the potential damage that they have done to the health of neighbors within a 1 mile radius. Our communities have been fighting them for years. So, I certainly owe them nothing.
15. Do you agree that private contractors doing business with the District should be required to provide domestic partner programs?
I think it might be necessary to examine this matter on a case by case basis. If a small contractor does not provide marriage benefits, I don’t believe we should require it to provide domestic partner benefits. I am willing, however, to listen and study this issue.
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.
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?
Former US Surgeon General, Jocelyn Elders has it right! We have to be “realistic” and address public health problems in a manner that makes sense and is responsible. So, yes I would oppose funding any sex-education program that is not backed by hard scientific evidence. Current scientific data is voluminous and shows that health education should be comprehensive and must include frank sex education. Whereas abstinence should be a part of sex education, abstinence only programs have been shown to not work. Many youth in such programs, through ignorance from faulty teachings, engage in risky behavior and have been shown to contract easily avoidable sexually transmitted infections. On the other hand, the data show that youth who have had comprehensive health education, including sex education, delay the onset of sexual activity and are much more likely to use barrier protection when they do begin sexual activity.
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, but in a rational, well thought out manner. We certainly don’t want to lose tax paying businesses. As DC Activist, all of us at one time or another have been referred to as “NIMBY’s.” I’m also President of my Civic Association, so, I can understand citizens not wanting certain establishments within close proximity to their homes. As a member of the Public Works and Environment Committee, I will be respectful of the fact that we are a cosmopolitan and diverse community, and it is my firm belief that we can coexist in these 69 square miles of the District of Columbia.
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, many groups oppose the licenses of businesses wanting to set up shop as a matter of course, driving many would-be local businesses to financial ruin or to other jurisdictions. These excesses must be curtailed.
Please provide the URL for your campaign website, if you have one. We will include it on our candidate links page.
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share my views in response to your questions. I invite you to view additional information on me and my record by visiting my website: http://www.gregrhett.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.
For the past 16 years, I have worked consistently to promote and uplift the quality of life for all residents of Ward 7 as an elected community leader, advocate and political activist. I would venture to say that my Ward has far more men and women who, by sexual orientation, would be considered members of the GLBT community than would be found in Dupont Circle, Logan Circle and Adams Morgan combined. However, the exigencies of heterosexism and homophobia in our community cause the overwhelming majority of these citizens to refrain from openly identifying. Additionally, for both racial and economic reasons, black GLBT individuals tend to live in black communities rather than gay-identified areas. My efforts in establishing youth programs, combating crime, improving public education services, and improving public recreational services have benefited all youth. My efforts to require contractors to hire Ward 7 residents, and subcontract with Ward 7 businesses/professionals have benefited residents needing jobs of whatever sexual orientation. What I do and have done is on behalf of all human beings.
