P.O. Box 75265, Washington, DC 20013
http://www.glaa.org
July 5, 2006
For Immediate ReleaseContact: Rick Rosendall, Political Vice President
202-667-5139
GLAA releases Agenda: 2006 and
Mayor and Council questionnaires
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance has released its comprehensive policy document, Agenda: 2006, as well as its questionnaires for candidates in the September 12 primary election for Mayor and D.C. Council.Agenda: 2006 is an election-year briefing paper on local GLBT issues in the District of Columbia. It is broken out into six general policy areas: Public Safety, AIDS and Public Health, Human Rights, Marriage and Family, Public Education and Youth, and Consumers and Businesses. Specific concerns addressed in the document include bias within the D.C. Fire/EMS Department; HIV prevention, surveillance, and testing efforts; enforcement of the D.C. Human Rights Act; the fight for equal rights to civil marriage; comprehensive sex education in the public schools; and fighting regulatory abuse.
On the issue of same-sex civil marriage rights, Agenda: 2006 includes the following statement: "We wish to make it clear to local political candidates that, in GLAA’s candidate ratings, we will not regard agreement with our cautious strategy as sufficient without an explicit endorsement of equal marriage rights in principle. Notwithstanding the general consensus, which we have led, that the District cannot pursue a same-sex marriage bill at present, when we ask, 'Do you support legal recognition of marriages between partners of the same sex?' we expect an answer of 'Yes.' There are two crucial parts of the fight for marriage equality: the goal itself and the strategy for reaching it. We need our elected officials to support us on both. Candidates unwilling to stand with us in principle on this fundamental issue have no grounds to complain when we penalize them accordingly."
New GLAA President Barrett L. Brick, who took over on July 1 from outgoing president Christpher Neff (who has moved to Sydney, Australia to pursue graduate studies), made the following statement: "GLAA's Elections Project has long been recognized as a fair, open, and non-partisan process by which we evaluate local candidates on gay issues. We do not make endorsements in partisan races, rather we rate candidates base on their records and answers on our issues. Neither do we leave candidates guessing as to what answers we are looking for. Our Agenda: 2006 provides an up-to-date briefing for campaigns, reporters, and the public on a wide range of GLBT-related issues."
Copies of Agenda: 2006 will be mailed to all candidates for Mayor and Council in the September 12 primary within the next week, along with the appropriate questionnaire and an explanatory cover letter. The deadline for primary candidates to submit their questionnaire responses is Thursday, August 10. GLAA requires candidates to sign each page of their questionnaire responses to indicate their personal commitment to their answers. GLAA will hold its ratings meeting for primary candidates on Tuesday, August 15.
GLAA's Elections Project documents are available online as follows:
GLAA's D.C. Elections Project 2006
www.glaa.org/archive/2006/election2006.shtmlAgenda: 2006
www.glaa.org/archive/2006/agenda2006.shtmlGLAA 2006 Questionnaire for D.C. Council Candidates
www.glaa.org/archive/2006/councilquestionnaire2006.shtmlCover Letter for GLAA 2006 D.C. Council Questionnaire
www.glaa.org/archive/2006/councilprimaryquestcov2006.shtmlGLAA 2006 Questionnaire for D.C. Mayor Candidates
www.glaa.org/archive/2006/mayoralquestionnaire2006.shtmlCover Letter for GLAA 2006 D.C. Mayor Questionnaire
www.glaa.org/archive/2006/mayoralprimaryquestcov2006.shtmlGLAA has rated candidates for office in every D.C. primary and general election since 1971. Independent mayoral and council candidates and school board candidates will be rated prior to the November 7 general election.
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, DC, is a local, all-volunteer, non-partisan, non-profit political organization, founded in 1971 to advance the equal rights of gay men and lesbians in Washington, DC. We are the nation's oldest continuously active gay and lesbian civil rights organization.