Cover Letter for 2000 DC Council Candidate Questionnaire

July 7, 2000

Dear D.C. Council Candidate:

In order to elicit your viewpoints on current issues of concern to lesbians and gay men in the District of Columbia, I am enclosing your copy of our questionnaire for all D.C. Council candidates running in the September 12 primaries.

We at GLAA are proud of our rank as the nation's oldest continuously operating gay and lesbian rights organization. In every election since our founding in 1971, we have sent out similar questionnaires to help educate our community about the choices facing us at the polls.

As you may know, GLAA does not endorse candidates in partisan races. Rather, we give numerical ratings to all candidates on a scale from -10 to +10, based upon each candidate's written responses to our questionnaire, combined with our assessment of each candidate's past record on behalf of lesbians and gay men. Our candidate ratings are released to the media and are advertised and circulated widely. We believe that our quarter-century of nonpartisan service gives our candidate ratings considerable credibility.

We encourage you to do more than give a simple "yes" or "no" response to our questions; the depth and completeness of your answers play a major role in determining your final rating. To help you understand the background for the issues raised in this year's questionnaire, we would be glad to give you a briefing (probably about an hour long) before you send in your replies. Just call us on 202-667-5139 to schedule your briefing. I have taken the liberty of enclosing a copy of GLAA's up-to-date policy paper, Agenda: 2000. Please take the time to read this for a summary of our perspectives on a wide variety of issues.

We must receive your answers to our questionnaire no later than Tuesday, August 1. Be sure to read the fine print at the bottom of the second page of your questionnaire for detailed instructions for submitting your answers. Your record is part of your rating. Please feel free to submit any documents, letters, campaign literature, or other materials that may help illustrate your record on behalf of lesbians and gay men. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Bob Summersgill
President
Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, DC

Enclosures (2)