2011 Questionnaire for D.C. Council Special Election Candidates
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
1. In the event of congressional action leading to a ballot initiative in the District that would take away the civil marriage rights now enjoyed by same-sex couples, will you oppose the initiative and publicly campaign for the preservation of civil marriage equality?
PUBLIC HEALTH
2. Will you support legislation giving the directors of the Office of GLBT Affairs and the Office of African Affairs the authority to issue competitive grants as other minority constituent offices have, that will be open to organizations serving the populations within the offices’ purview?
3. Describe steps you will support to improve performance at the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration (HAHSTA), including in HIV prevention, HIV/AIDS surveillance, and mental health services.
PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE JUDICIARY
4. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
5. Will you support efforts to rein in police officials who respond to legitimate crime concerns with unsustainable, media-centric quick fixes that infringe constitutionally protected civil liberties? And will you do so without waiting for courts to overturn them, as the U.S. Court of Appeals did to the Neighborhood Safety Zone initiative in 2009?
6. Will you press for increased oversight of the Metropolitan Police Department’s gathering and analysis of crime statistics to ensure greater comprehensiveness and objectivity, including transgender-related hate crime data?
HUMAN RIGHTS
7. Will you support a budget for the Office of Human Rights large enough to allow it to keep the backlog at below 70 aged cases; keep below 210 days the average time it takes to issue a probable cause finding; and expand education, prevention, and language access efforts?
8. Are you committed to including a transgender representative on the D.C. Commission on Human Rights?
9. 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?
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND YOUTH
10. Will 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?
11. 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 excluding more comprehensive information?
CONSUMERS AND BUSINESSES
12. Do you support the right of adults in the District to choose adult-oriented entertainment for themselves, and the right of appropriately licensed and zoned businesses to provide it?
13. Will you support legislation to curb abuses by NIMBYs who are now allowed to file an endless series of baseless complaints to harass or extort bars and restaurants?
14. What are your thoughts regarding GLAA’s proposal, explained in Agenda: 2010, to mitigate the problems associated with prostitution by legalizing and regulating it? What will you do to provide alternatives to survival sex for at-risk populations like homeless youth and transgenders?
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.Your answers should be typed on separate paper rather than on this form. You must sign your name on each answer sheet to indicate your personal commitment to your answers.
Please return your signed questionnaire responses by Wednesday, March 16 to GLAA, P.O. Box 75265, Washington, D.C. 20013.
In addition to sending your signed hard copy, please email a copy (in any major word processor or text format) for loading on GLAA’s website (www.glaa.org) to equal@glaa.org. Thank you.
