Responses of Robert Gordon to GLAA 2006 Questionnaire
for DC Council Candidates
| Yes/No | Substance | Record | Championship | Total |
| 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.5 |
Public Safety
1. Will you support funding for mandatory gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) sensitivity and diversity training for all members of the Fire/EMS Department?
Yes, I will. I believe that Kenda Kirby’s case proves that sensitivity training is just as necessary for Fire/EMS as it is for MPD. It is not acceptable for any public servant, especially our first responders, to be prejudiced against people on the basis of race, age, religion, or sexual orientation.
2. Will you call on the new Mayor to appoint a new Fire/EMS Department Chief who is committed to rooting out the Department’s deeply entrenched homophobia and transphobia?
Yes. Homophobia and transphobia is unacceptable in today’s society, and especially in government institutions. My hope is that someday this will no longer be an issue. As a City Councilmember, I will work with and pressure the new Mayor, whoever he/she may be, to screen on the basis of justice and equity and to select a Fire/EMS Chief who does not tolerate bias and bigotry in their Department. I will use the Council’s nomination hearing process to closely question the Mayor’s nominee about equity and press the nominee to commit to combating all forms of bias in the Department.
3. Will you support a budget for the Office of Police Complaints large enough to continue to avoid developing a backlog of cases?
Yes. As a City Councilmember, I will work with the MPD to make sure that officers are held accountable for violating the officer’s code of conduct. This process, coupled with sensitivity training, needs to remain a top priority for the MPD. It will send a message to officers that behavior and conduct violations will not be tolerated. While the OPC has managed to reduce its backlog of complaints, we need to ensure that this favorable trend continues. I support funding for additional staff for OPC to help facilitate swift justice in these complaint cases. In the future, it is my hope that this process and sensitivity training will have a positive impact and reduce the number of complaints enabling us to divert the funds to other critical needs
4. Will you oppose legislation creating so-called “prostitution-free zones,” which would give the police, who routinely assume that every transgendered person is a prostitute until proven otherwise, virtually unlimited power to harass our transgendered residents?
I believe that the fundamental problem is not how our prostitution laws are written but how MPD officers enforce them. Prostitution is illegal and the existing laws banning prostitution need to be enforced everywhere in the city. Police need to follow procedures already in place, which will likely reduce the number of mistaken identities by police. Proper sensitivity training should address this concern.
AIDS and Public Health
5. Do you agree that the drive to make HIV testing routine among District residents should include funding for counseling and referrals to treatment facilities for those testing positive?
Yes. The District Government has an obligation to its citizens to ensure that social services are available along with HIV testing. Individuals who test positive for the disease need a variety of services, such as counseling and health care services to help them cope with, and understand how to live with, the disease. These individuals also need counseling to educate them on how to prevent from spreading the disease. The only way to break the cycle is to prevent new cases from occurring. As a City Councilmember, I will fight to ensure these services are funded and readily available to individuals who need them.
6. Are you committed to continuing and expanding the District’s condom distribution program?
Yes. The District needs to revitalize and expand its condom distribution program. Plus, there needs to be an effort to educate people how and when to use condoms. Condom distribution is an effective tool in preventing the spread of disease and unplanned pregnancy. Condom use saves lives and I support it.
7. The District is being forced by the federal government to switch from a unique identifier system to a names reporting system for people testing positive for HIV. Will you support legislation to strengthen our medical privacy laws, such as by creating a private right of action for those whose confidentiality is violated by District government employees or contractors?
Yes.
Human Rights
8. Will you support a budget for the Office of Human Rights (OHR) large enough to allow it to reduce to 270 days the average gap between the time that a discrimination complaint is filed and the time OHR issues a finding of probable cause?
Yes. In fact, I would look into the reason that the average time gap is so long. If this is a management problem, I will request that the Office of Personnel take the needed personnel action to improve the situation.
9. Will you block ceremonial resolutions and otherwise decline to honor individuals or organizations that promote any sort of bigotry?
Yes.
10. Are you committed to publicizing and enforcing the provisions of the D.C. Human Rights Act forbidding discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression?
Yes.
Marriage and Family
11. Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?
Yes. I support committed, loving relationships between partners. This holds true regardless of the sexual orientation of the partners. This applies to questions 11, 13, and 13. I believe that same sex partnerships should have full rights to legally marry and share in all of the benefits of marriage.
I have been happily married for 13 years to my wife Leila. I know the rewards and benefits of a happy and healthy marriage. As a City Councilmember, I will work with other Council members to ensure that anyone that marriage is an option for those who desire to be married.
12. Will you support legislation in the District to continue expanding the existing domestic partnership program to include all relevant rights and responsibilities of marriage in D.C. law?
Yes.
13. Will you support the legislative and/or regulatory changes necessary to ensure that the District recognizes civil unions, domestic partnerships and similar legal relationships established in other jurisdictions?
Yes.
Public Education and Youth
14. Do 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?
Yes. I’m opposed to such vouchers.
15. Do 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 discouraging the use of condoms and that effectively tells gay and lesbian students that they must remain celibate forever because they may not legally marry?
Yes. I have three grown children. Based on my experience parenting them, I believe that the “abstinence” argument is not helpful or feasible. It is naïve, and as a result may lead to greater exposure to hazardous situations. As I noted above, I am very much in support of condom distribution, and teaching individuals how and when to use them. We need to educate our students and give them the tools to make informed choices. Prevention and education is how we will reduce the spread of disease and unplanned pregnancy.
Consumers and Businesses
16. Do you support the relocation of the many gay bars and businesses that were displaced by the new ballpark, even if local NIMBYs and homophobes oppose them?
I support just compensation for those displaced by the new ballpark and any other eminent domain taking. Wherever they locate, all commercial establishments – gay or otherwise -- must comply with local zoning and liquor licenses. Otherwise, I believe that that the government should remain out of the affairs of where gay bars and businesses relocate.
17. Will you support legislation to curb the abuses of NIMBYs who are now allowed to file an endless series of baseless complaints to harass or extort bars and restaurants?
I would hope that existing legal procedures are sufficient to prevent or eliminate baseless or nuisance-type complaints from the legal system, but I would be happy to consult legal counsel to determine if any additional protections are needed in this area.
18. Do you oppose the Youth Protection from Obscene Video Games Act (B16-0125), a clone of other laws that have consistently been struck down by the courts on constitutional grounds?
The law is unconstitutional. I oppose it.
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.