Responses of Michele Tingling-Clemmons to GLAA
2004 Questionnaire for D.C. Council Candidates
| Yes/No (+/- 2) |
Substance (+/- 4) |
Record (+/- 3) |
Championship (+/- 1) |
Total (+/- 10) |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
Public Safety
1. Will you support an annual budget for the Office of Citizen Complaint Review big enough to prevent the development of a backlog of citizen allegations of police misconduct?
As councilmember, I will support an annual budget for the Office of Citizen Complaint Review sufficient to prevent development of a backlog of citizen allegations of police misconduct.
2. Will you support funding for mandatory gay male, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sensitivity and diversity training including gay and transgender community representatives as a continuing part of the training for all members of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Fire/EMS Department?
I fully support funding for mandatory gay male, lesbian, bisexual and transgender sensitivity and diversity traninng - including gay and transgender community representatives - as a continuing and regular part of training for all members of the Metropolitan Police Department and the Fire/EMS Department. Additionally I support such training for ALL of the various police divisions and departments in which the District interfaces with said departments, including Metro, Housing and any others.
Public Health & AIDS
3. Will you lobby your colleagues and Council Chairman Linda Cropp to create a new Committee on Health, split out from the current Committee on Human Services, that will be chaired by someone committed to vigorous oversight of the Department of Health?
I agree that we need a Committee on Health separate and apart from the current Committee on Human Services, that it should be chaired by someone committed to vigorous oversight of the Department of Health, and I will lobby for same.
4. The rate of HIV infections in DC is the highest in the United States, rivaling levels in sub-Saharan Africa. Problems of rampant corruption, illegal activities, and demoralized staff at the HIV/AIDS Administration (HAA) have been well documented. Yet there has not been an oversight hearing on HAA for more than a year. The previous oversight hearing was five years earlier. If elected or re-elected to the Council, will you ensure that the Council holds an annual performance oversight hearing on HAA?
When elected, I will do whatever is in my power to ensure that the Council holds an annual performance oversight hearing on HAA.
5. Will you ask the D.C. Inspector General for a full audit of the HIV/AIDS Administration and its contractors?
I will request a full audit of the HIV/AIDS Administration and its contractors form the DC Inspector General.
6. The current HIV epidemiological surveillance system discourages people-especially immigrants-from getting tested by requiring both their partial Social Security Number and their country of origin. This potentially threatens their ability to stay in this country. Will you support and vote for legislation that will eliminate the partial Social Security Number from the unique identifier system?
I agree that any requirement for a Social Security number - or any portion of it - is an obstacle to reaching and treating immigrants, getting them tested, etc., and I will vote for legislation to eliminate it from the unique identifier system.
7. Only one insurance company operating in D.C. offers domestic partner coverage to small businesses that wish to offer the benefit. Will you vote in favor of legislation requiring insurance carriers to make domestic partner coverage available for small businesses that want to offer this health care benefit to their employees?
I will vote in favor of legislation requiring insurance carriers to make domestic partner coverage available for small businesses that want to offer this health care benefit to their employees, and further will advocate that other insurers also offer such coverage, and that they not be allowed to continue to discriminate.
Human Rights
8. Despite significant improvements made in the operations of the Office of Human Rights (OHR) in the past several years, the OHR FY 2005 budget was not increased to hire additional investigators and other staff so that the case backlog will continue to drop. Will you support maintaining funding levels and aggressive oversight to ensure that the OHR case backlog continues to drop?
I do and will continue to support maintaining funding levels and aggressive oversight to ensure that the Office of Human Rights case backlog continues to drop, and that it serves our residents - ALL our residents - as they should be served.
9. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry, including but not limited to the Salvation Army, Assemblies of God and the Boy Scouts of America?
I am opposed to supporting the promotion of any sort of bigotry, and will certainly oppose, block and otherwise decline to honor individuals of organizations promoting bigotry, including the Salvation Army, Assemblies of God, and the Boy Scouts of America.
Defending Our Families
10. Will you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
I will support legal recognition of marriage between partners of the same sex, in the belief that to do otherwise is to support discrimination against our gay and transgender brothers and sisters.
11. Will you support legislation in the District to expand the domestic partner program to include all of the relevant rights and responsibilities of marriage in D.C. law?
I support and will continue, as a councilmember, to support legislation in the Distrit to expand the domestic partner program to include all of the relevant rights and responsibilities of marriage in DC law.
12. Will you support the legislative and/or regulatory changes necessary to ensure that the District recognizes marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships established in other jurisdictions?
I also support and will support as a councilmember, the legislative and/or regulatory changes necessary to ensure that DC recognizes marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships established in other jurisdictions.
Public Education and Youth
13. Will you oppose both federally and locally funded voucher programs that place students in religious schools and outside the protections of the D.C. Human Rights Act?
As a parent of school-age children, I am adamantly opposed to federally and locally funded voucher programs that place students in religious schools, outside the protections of the DC Human Rights Act and which violate the separation of church and state by giving financial support through our tax dollars to the church.
14. 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 tells gay and lesbian students that they must be celibate forever because they may not legally marry?
As a parent of school-age children, I am adamantly opposed to the use of ANY taxpayer funds to: promote so-called 'abstinence-until-marriage sex education; undermine safer-sex programs; discourages the use of condoms; promotes permanent celibacy for gay and lesbian students; or that promotes any such narrow, backwards and unscientific views. I believe that all our students and adults must be taught the truth about sex, about heterosexuality, about homosexuality, and about all humans and what is now known as their 'gender-preferences'.
Modernizing the Criminal Code
15. Will you vote to repeal the use of undefined and unspecified common law crimes and to repeal the laws criminalizing verbal solicitations of legal sexual activity?
I will vote as a councilmember to repeal the use of undefined and unspecified common law crimes and to repeal laws criminalizing verbal solicitations of legal sexual activity. I find it abhorrent that people are forced into activities to survive that are then criminalized to further compromise an already desperate situation.
Record
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.