OCTOBER 29, 1993 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

LO

5

Most candidates ignore Stonewall survey

A survey of area candidates on issues of concern to lesbians and gays has been ignored by many office-seekers.

Stonewall Cleveland mailed surveys to candidates for the mayoral, city council and school board races in Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and Lakewood. The questionnaires went out on October 2, after the final primary races held on September 28.

As of October 25, fewer than half of the candidates had returned the questionnaires, according to Bob Bucklew of Stonewall Cleveland's political survey committee.

Non-respondents included Cleveland mayor Michael White, who is viewed as a supporter of lesbians and gays, if a quiet one. Raymond Pianka, running unopposed for re-election in Ward 17 with its large gay male population, also did not respond. Only three of the 14 candidates for Cleveland school board responded. Stonewall plans to send follow-up letters to those election winners who did not respond, because this information gathering is an "ongoing process," according to Bucklew.

Two sets of questions were prepared, one for school board candidates, and one for mayoral and city council candidates. Each question offered a "for" or "against" response along with space to add clarifying

comments, which are below the tables.

Because of the shortage of space and the length of the comments, some of the candidate's positions have been summarized, and are so noted. Words in quotes are the candidate's words. Stonewall Cleveland has at-

tempted to summarize these comments without any editorializing on its part. The full, original comments are available upon request from Stonewall.

In the tables, candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Survey questions

Council and mayor candidates

The group hopes that readers will find the responses, or lack of a response, useful in deciding which candidate to vote for. If there are any questions about the surveys, contact Ed Simon at 752-6358 or Bob Bucklew at 961-4762.

Here is the complete text of the questions Stonewall-Cleveland sent to the candidates. The labels used in the tables below and on Page 4, shown in boldface, weren't included in the questionnaires.

Civil rights. Are you in favor or against including gays, lesbians and bisexuals in civil rights laws forbidding discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations? Partners. Are you in favor or against domestic partnership laws which provide equal rights for homosexual partners? Adoption. Are you in favor or against adoption rights for gay men, lesbians and bisexuals?

Choice. Are you in favor or against a woman's right to choose to have an abortion?

Hate crimes. Are you in favor or against including crimes against gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the category of hate crimes?

HIV testing. Are you in favor or against mandatory HIV testing of health care workers?

HIV felony. Are you in favor or against a law which would make the intentional or knowing transmission of HIV a felony?

Lakewood City Council

School board candidates

Diversity programs. Do you support educational policies/ programs which encourage and support ethnic, racial, religious and sexual diversity?

Personnel training. Do you support the education and training of school personnel in issues and information regarding gay and lesbian students?

Job rights. Do you support the employment rights of openly gay, lesbian and bisexual teachers, instructors and administrators?

Student support. Do you support the creation of a referral/ support program for gay and lesbian students? AIDS education. Do you support educational programs which provide up-to-date knowledge and information about HIV/AIDS and safer sex practices? Condoms. Do you support the availability of condoms in high school for students?

Cleveland Heights City Council

At Large

At Large

Candidate

Civil rights

Partners Adoption Choice

Hate crimes

HIV

HIV

Candidate

testing

felony

Civil rights

Hate

HIV

HIV

Partners Adoption Choice

crimes

testing

felony

JoAnn Boscia Bryan E. Flannery Pamela L. Gorski

For For [1] For [2]

For

or For For

For

[5]

[5]

Philmore Hart

For

For For

For

For

For [1]

For

No position

Against Against

For

For

Bruce A. Knarr

[3]

[4] Against

[5]

For [6]

For

For

Against For [6]

For

For

For

For [7]

For

Phyllis L. Evans

*For

For

[2] For

For

Against

For

Pamela J. Smith

[3] For

For

For [4]

For

For

Gregory K. Cunningham, Dennis C. Fischer, John Patrick Gallagher,

and David J. Wright did not respond to the survey.

1. If they don't "flaunt" their preferences...

2. I'm not aware of any partnership laws which are prohibitive.

3. While I am willing to discuss this issue, I am concerned that by adding categories to civil rights legislation, more cracks appear than loopholes are closed.

4. Partial comment: I can still see considering this, not because of any gay or lesbian inclusion, but because I am reluctant to divide crime into hate and non-hate categories. Crime is crime.

5. I do not know enough about this issue to have a position.

6. But am open to discussion. This is the only area where I have disagreement-I do not feel that civil rights laws should extend to sexual orientation. However am against such discrimination-so I remain in a quandary.

7. But: I want the results to be confidential!

Bonnie Caplan, Carol Edwards, Jimmie Hicks, Edward J. Kelley, Paul A. Nachtwey, Mike Price, Richard C. Smith, and Lori Solomom-Hess did not respond to the survey.

1. Would be best for health care worker to know and protect against infecting others.

2. Adoption decisions should be made on an individual per case basis.

3. Summarized comment: Only apply where landlord or business owner evicted or fired someone who had already shown to be a good tenant or employee, and "if it could be shown that the individual's behavior had not changed so as to be disruptive to the business interests of the owner."

4. Summarized comment: Only if two persons enter into a contract regarding property, wills, estates, etc.

5. Summarized comment: It is wrong in the late stages of pregnancy.

6. Summarized comment: Would support in extreme cases with qualifications.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools

Lakewood Schools

Candidate

Diversity Personnel

Job rights

programs training

Student AIDS support education

Condoms

Diversity Personnel

Candidate

Job rights

programs

training

Student AIDS support education

Condoms

Joan Natko

For

For

For

For

For

For

Lynn Farris

For [3]

For

For

For

For

Against

141

Eric Silverman

For

For

For

For [1]

For

For [2]

William Langenhop

For

For

For

For

For

Against

Ramona D. Slocum

[3]

For

For

For

For

For [4]

Betsy Bergen Shaughnessy

[1]

For

For

For

For

[2]

Stephen Wertheim

For

For

For

For

For

For

Edward Fitzgerald, Jeff Keith, Martin E. O'Donnell, and Michael P. Summers did not respond.

1. I support education policies, programs which encourage and support "an understanding" of ethnic, racial, religious and sexual diversity.

2. I believe condoms should be available "along with" information regarding sexual responsibility, failure of condoms to provide 100 percent protection and the ramifications of sexual behavior for adolescents.

3. Summarized comment: The word encourage is somewhat troublesome in that I believe we do not as public schools encourage diversity but rather accept, understand and encourage a tolerance for diversity.

4. Summarized comment: "I have really struggled with this issue. I clearly understand the reasons for availability but I am against it in the Lakewood Public Schools for the following reasons." a) would be strongly opposed on religious grounds by many families in Lakewood; b) not really effective in that students probably wouldn't go to counselors to get condoms, but would get them in retail outlets; c) schools not equipped to handle this type of moral judgment.

Shaker Heights City Council

Denise Brown Thigpen, Donald S. Knooihuizen, and Kari Q. Sharpe did not respond to the survey.

1. So long as the program is merely counseling and not used as a soapbox or as an advocacy group.

2. While I personally support condom distribution, the desire of the community must be factored in.

3. I believe our children should be taught to look "beyond" our differences, and not judge others based on those differences.

4. If dispensed through a nurse's office, or other appropriate area, that would also provide some counseling/support

service.

Candidate

Civil rights

Partners Adoption "Choice

Robert O'Neal

For

For

For

Lewis G. Robinson

For

For

For

For For

For

Hate HIV HIV crimes testing felony For Against For For

For

David M. Goss, Maggie Jorgensen, Kenneth J. Kovach, and Don Kral did not respond to the survey.

Shaker Heights Schools

None of the four candidates responded to the survey.

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