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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