Responses of Emily Y. Washington to GLAA 2007 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 2 | 4 | 1.5 | 0 | 7.5 |
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?
I will support funding for mandatory gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) sensitivity and diversity training for all members of the Fire/EMS Department, irrespective of Committee assignment (s).
I abhor injustice and intolerance in any form. I love and respect all people and I am committed to human rights in every respect. Ignorance engenders fear and fear breeds intolerance and violence. Therefore, education, in the form of diversity and sensitivity training for all public safety officers, is absolutely necessary to eradicate all forms of discrimination.
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?
I will strongly encourage and pressure, if need be, the MPD to reinstate sensitivity training to combat homophobia. Law enforcement officers who practice and perpetuate the abuse of transgender men and women will not be tolerated. Strong measures against MPD employees who fail to honor and respect the human rights of members of the transgender community should be policy driven. I am optimistic that Chief Lanier, having been mentored by Chief Ramsey, will demonstrate the same level of commitment to equal treatment for all citizens shown by former Police Chief, Ramsey.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
I will support and fully fund the budget for the Office of Police Complaints (OPC). I feel a moral imperative to continue to hold MPD accountable for policing and protecting all sectors of the community. The record cited speaks volumes about the importance of the Office of Police Complaints.
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?
In addition to HIV testing, funding for counseling and referrals to treatment facilities for those testing positive is necessary to reduce the spread of HIV. While DC has the highest AIDS in the United States, my zip code 20019, has the highest incidence of HIV in the city. We have a major health crisis in this city and all residents need to be engaged in a campaign to educate and address this crisis. Public officials, in partnership with the Mayor and all District agencies, are in the best and most strategic position to jump-start this campaign. Educational institutions, public and private, should be mandated to create awareness programs to educate the general public and to encourage testing and treatment that is without costs for those without medical insurance coverage.
5. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
In addition to a commitment to continue and expand the District’s condom distribution program, I strongly support mandatory distribution of condoms in public institutions, particularly secondary schools, middle and senior.
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 will support legislation to strengthen the District’s medical privacy laws. The reticence of persons to be tested for HIV is deeply rooted in fears associated with privacy; therefore, medical privacy laws need to be strengthened and strictly adhered to in order to protect and respect privacy rights.
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?
I support adequately funding the budget for the Office of Human Rights (OHR) in order to reduce the time between the filing of discrimination complaints and the time OHR issues a ruling.
8. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
I am vehemently opposed to bigotry in any form. I am committed to blocking ceremonial resolutions, and/or other events that discriminate against persons for any reasons.
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?
I am committed to publicizing and enforcing the provisions of the DC Human Rights Act forbidding discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression. I am pleased with the most recent enhancements to the DCHRA; you are to be commended for your efforts. When I am elected, I expect to play a leading role in helping to end all forms of arbitrary discrimination against the District’s transgender citizens in the public and private sectors. We all pay taxes, irrespective of gender and sexuality.
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?
The Director of the Office of Human Rights should be required to have earned professional credentials in the appropriate areas, as well as related training and experience in the area of civil rights law enforcement. I would expect the Director to have demonstrated the ability to speak broadly, across all sectors of the District about human rights and the affirmation of one’s personal dignity to be respected and protected irrespective of lifestyle.
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes. I support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex. I have personal friends of the same sex who live together as partners; in fact, one of my committee co-chairs is in a same sex partnership. She is a wonderful, intelligent, worthy and one of the most decent human beings I know.
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?
Absolutely! I will strongly support legislation in the District to expand the existing domestic partnership program to include all relevant rights and responsibilities of marriage in DC law.
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. Until the District can legally perform same sex marriages, we should replicate, and legalize domestic partnerships regulations in other jurisdictions that support the wishes and needs of DC residents.
14. Will you oppose legislation giving special benefits to PEPCO until it implements an equitable domestic partner benefit program?
I pay PEPCO monthly for my electricity usage. I was unaware that PEPCO does not have an equitable domestic partner benefit program. Yes, I will oppose giving PEPCO special benefits until the company adopts an equitable domestic partner benefits program.
15. Do you agree that private contractors doing business with the District should be required to provide domestic partner programs?
Absolutely! I am willing to participate in peaceful demonstrations against contractors who conduct business with the District until they provide domestic partner programs.
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 am opposed to Voucher programs period! I lobbied the Congress against vouchers in the District to no avail; however, when elected, I will campaign to end vouchers I the District. Vouchers simply put, in the name of quality education, represent an egregious form of state sponsored child abuse.
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 am a professional educator, a parent, grandparent and long- term youth advocate. I support fully comprehensive sex education programs that are holistic and realistic. Practicing safe sex through the use of condoms should be taught at the onset of puberty. All student populations, irrespective of sexually, should be taught to use condoms when engaging in sexual intercourse. I will oppose the use of federal and District taxpayer dollars to promote ignorance and stupidity.
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 am unable to commit to supporting the relocation of any businesses without knowing specific details about where displaced businesses wish to relocate. However, I feel certain that the relocation of gay bars and zoning laws, in which case I will more than likely support the replacements of displaced businesses do not compromise the integrity of the neighborhoods in which they seek to relocate.
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 will support legislation to curb NIMBY abuses since such abuses appear to be without substance. Again, if no laws are being broken, such complaints are baseless.
Please provide the URL for your campaign website, if you have one. We will include it on our candidate links page.
www.electemilywashington.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.
