Bernard A. Gray, Sr.
Democrat, Ward 6
Candidate for Ward 6 DC CouncilmemberSpecial Election: April 29, 1997
Response to GLAA 1997 Questionnaire
for Ward 6 DC Council Candidates
1. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between persons of the same sex?
No. I fully understand the rationale behind your agenda and agree in principle. I do believe that you can obtain your goals without same-sex marriage and I will work on the problem.
2. Will you oppose efforts by Congress or other parties to stop the District of Columbia from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in Hawaii or other places?
Yes. We should give full faith and credit to this law as we do other laws.
3. Do you oppose efforts by Congress or other parties to outlaw or restrict adoptions by unmarried couples in the District of Columbia?
No. Many children from unmarried couples, and in a number of instances, who are not the birth child of both, have been raised to become educated, hard-working and law-abiding citizens. The best interest of the child should continue to be the test. [Note from GLAA: from the context, we determined that the candidate must have said "no" out of confusion, since his explanation clearly supports our position. We therefore scored this a "yes."]
4. If Congress ever repeals the D.C. Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992 that established the registration of domestic partnerships, will you vote to reenact the same law?
Yes. Domestic partnership is a family union and each person should be covered under the family plan. There may be a way to get around Congress, if we put our mind to it and I will work to do just that. Health benefits are too important to ignore.
5. As a member of the Committee on Government Operations, you would have oversight responsibilities for enforcement of the D.C. Human Rights Law of 1977. Do you support the reestablishment of the Office of Human Rights as an independent, adequately-staffed, Cabinet-level agency whose Director has direct access to the Mayor?
No. I do however agree with you that the Human Rights Law must be enforced as all of our laws. I will work to adequately staff and fund the agency to do its job well.
6. Do you agree that the Boy Scouts of America is violating the D.C. Human Rights Law's ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by excluding gays from participating either as scouts or as leaders?
Yes. Regardless of one's personal feelings or phobias, the law prohibits discrimination. All discrimination based on personality must be eliminated and each person must be judged on his/her merits.
7. Will you vote to repeal the Armstrong Amendment, which allows religiously-affiliated private educational institutions in the District to discriminate against student clubs that promote equal rights for lesbians and gay men?
Yes, discrimination is wrong regardless of who practices it. Religiously-affiliated institutions are probably the best place to promote a greater understanding of acceptance of individuals and their differences.
8. Will you oppose efforts by Congress or other parties to abolish or restrict the right of our public school students to form clubs that promote greater understanding between gays and others?
Yes. Our goal should be to promote a greater understanding between all people of differing beliefs.
9. Do you agree that our own elected officials, past and present, bear much of the responsibility for the District's current financial plight because of their reluctance to make tough budgetary decisions, to establish priorities, and to demand maximum efficiency and productivity (rather than political loyalty) from all District government gencies and workers?
Checking my record, including my service on the Board of Education, will demonstrate just how strong I believe that it is the Council's responsibility for the financial plight of the District of Columbia. The budget is the total responsibility of the Council. The problem is that the "council members" do not know their jobs nor do the candidates seeking office.
10. As a member of the Committee on Human Services, you would have oversight responsibilities in the public health struggles against AIDS and breast cancer. It has recently been revealed that the District failed to spend $1 million of its own appropriated funds to combat AIDS in the last fiscal year, jeopardizing our city's federal funding from the Ryan White Act and contributing to the District's failure to award a contract for an effective needle exchange program. What will you do to safeguard against such bureaucratic bumbling by our health agencies?
After the budget responsibility of the Council is its oversight responsibility. Check how I ran the Special Education Committee when I was its chair. I do my home work, talk with the staff of the unit the committee is overseeing, talk with the people receiving the service and compare the budget plan with the unit's progress with its goal. I ask the questions that get action. I will continue to do my home work to safeguard you from such fumbling.
11. Do you support the legalization of the medical use of marijuana when a patient's doctor recommends it as a means to combat the effects of AIDS, cancer, and other diseases when more conventional treatments for alleviating symptoms fail?
Yes. We must do everything possible to serve our residents and promote quality of life for everybody. You should not refuse to help people because a few might abuse the process. You enforce the law and ensure that any abuse is dealt with forcibly.
12. Do you support the condom availability programs that have been established in the District's public schools and prisons?
Yes. But I want it operated properly. We must ensure that it is operating effectively.
13. In 1995, the Council summarily abolished the Civilian Complaint Review Board, thereby allowing the Metropolitan Police Depoartment to handle all public complaints about excessive use of force or abusive language by the police. Last year the Council failed to enact the Police Conduct Review Board Act of 1995, to establish an improved system for civilian review of such complaints against the police; the Council claimed there were no funds for establishing the new board. Will you vote to establish and fund the Police Conduct Review Board for FY 1998?
I think so. I expect to set priorities. Beginning with education, Public health and safety, housing, etc. But before anything can really happen, the District must pay for the federal mandates, court mandates, receiver mandates, etc. and I don't know how much there is going to be left. It is a high priority under Public health and safety.
14. Do you support sensitivity and community relations training for all elements of our public safety system (police, fire department, etc.) that includes strong recognition of gay and lesbian community concerns, so that the District will never again tolerate the kind of insensitivity and incompetence reflected in the Fire Department's handling of the Tyra Hunter case and similar incidents?
Yes. All public servants should be so trained. Homophobia must be attached [sic], which you only do through education and association.
15. Will you support legislation to authorize and regulate the issuance of liquor licenses to establishments (in designated nonresidential commercial districts) that want to offer nude dancing as entertainment?
Under a Supreme Court ruling, each community must provide zoning for every activity. Why not a place for nude dancing? Again, I would not prevent the zoning because a few might abuse it, I would enforce the law and ensure that any abuse is dealt with forcibly.
I accept people as individuals. Larry Gray, an open gay, served as my assistant because he is a person I respect. He was a "good" worker and became a "good" friend. We have broken bread together. I supported the HI/AIDS [sic] programs in school as a member of the Board of Education.
[Signed]
Bernard A. Gray, Sr.