Responses of Ann Holiday to GLAA 2007 Questionnaire
for D.C. Board of Education Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
1. Do you recognize the right of our public school students to organize clubs to promote gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights, to combat homophobic and transphobic violence and prejudice, and to provide socializing opportunities for GLBT youth?
Students should have the right to organize clubs centered on their particular interest or social groups.
2. Do you recognize the right of students to bring dates of the same sex to school proms and other official public school social functions?
Students should be allowed to bring same sex dates to proms and other school social functions.
3. Will you oppose efforts to restrict or censor books or other materials in our public school libraries that discuss homosexuality in a positive and supportive manner?
It is my opinion that no material that is age and/or grade appropriate should be censored from school libraries. In fact it would be great if all schools had libraries equipped with all types of reading materials and books.
4. Do you support the right of non-profit groups to provide DCPS school libraries with gay-positive books which are openly displayed and freely available to all students?
I support the right of the community as a whole to take an interest in school libraries and to provide educational materials. Those materials should be openly displayed and available to students.
5. Do you support efforts by Metro DC PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) to work constructively with our local public schools to provide support groups and to help implement anti-harassment policies?
Yes, I do support those efforts. No child should have be educated in an environment where they are uncomfortable and/or subjected to any form of harassment.
6. Do you favor training programs for professional development of teachers, counselors, and other school system staff, such as those offered by the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), to help these professionals nurture positive identity formation for GLBT students and prevent harassment and bullying in the classroom?
Teachers, counselors and other school system staff should be provided with any and all professional development programs that will provide them with the knowledge and understanding to nurture all students. It is my opinion that this training and understanding is especially needed for GLBT students.
7. From time to time, D.C. public school teachers have invited openly gay men and women to speak in their classes and to answer students’ questions about homosexuality. Do you support the right of our teachers to continue inviting such speakers?
Teachers should be in full control of their classrooms. They spend time daily with students and as such should be knowledgeable on the type of information that is needed to provide a comprehensive education to the students. Many of the skills needed by students could be considered those ‘soft’ skills that provide them with social understanding of all groups of people. Therefore, I do support the teachers right to continue to invite gay men and women to answer student’s questions about homosexuality.
8. The recent report by the Appleseed Center detailed many shortcomings in the District’s condom distribution program, as only 125,000 condoms were distributed in 2005, far below the goal of 600,000. Will you support a reinvigoration of the DCPS condom availability program, operated by the Department of Health?
I don’t believe that the schools should be involved in the distribution of condoms. They should however refer students to the programs operated by the Department of Health.
9. Will you work to implement a comprehensive sex education program in the D.C. Public Schools that teaches that homosexuality is part of the normal range of human sexuality, consistent with existing DCPS policy?
Yes, I would.
10. Will you oppose the use of either federal or District taxpayer funds to promote so-called “abstinence only until marriage” sex education that undermines safer-sex programs by discouraging the use of condoms and that effectively tells lesbian and gay male students that they must be celibate forever because they may not legally marry?
Abstinence is an option for students attending sex education classes. The use of condoms should also be included in the curriculum.
11. Do you support the full implementation of the DCPS Sexual Harassment and Harassment Policy, which protects public school students from physical and verbal abuse based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity (DCMR Title 5, Education: 2503.2.g-h)?
Yes I do support the full implementation of the DCPS Sexual Harassment and Harassment policy.
12. Will you oppose both federally and locally funded voucher programs that fund students in religious schools that are beyond the protections of the D.C. Human Rights Act?
Parents should be given the opportunity to have their children educated in the environment that they consider the best option. I agree with the voucher program in that it provides the financial resources to help educate children who are not being sufficiently educated in public schools. No, I would not oppose federal and local funding for vouchers for a religious education.
Please provide the URL for your campaign website, if you have one. We will include it on our candidate links page.
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.
