Lavender Greens Endorsement Questionnaire.
Answered by Cam Gordon
Minneapolis City Council Candidate Ward 2
1.The Green Party of the US and the Mpls 5th Dist
Green Party platforms state "We support the rights of
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in
housing, jobs, civil marriage and benefits, child
custody and in all areas of life, the right to be
treated equally with all other people." Do you
support and affirm this statement of our platforms?
Yes
2.Do you support domestic partnership benefits for all unmarried public employees who demonstrate an interdependent relationship with a domestic partner?
Yes
3.Do you support requiring contractors with our public entities of a certain size to provide domestic partnership benefits to their employees?
Yes
4.Do you support requiring contractors with our public entities to protect all their employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity by including such language in their nondiscrimination policies?
Yes
5.Do you support cessation of any preferential
treatment or contractual agreements extended by our
public entities to the Boy Scouts of America until
they repeal their ban on the participation of glbt
people?
Yes
6.Do you support the expansion of health benefits for
public employees to include gender identity/expression
related health care expenses and therapy, including
for those transitioning genders?
Yes
7.Do you support extending the preferences for
veterans that our public entities control(hiring
preferences, etc.) to those who demonstrate that they
would qualify if they had not been dismissed due to
their professed sexual orientation?
Yes
8.Will you work to end the police practice of
entrapment of gay & bisexual men? (this question city
council and park board candidates)
Yes
9.Do you support resources for sexual minority
students, staff and parents in our public schools such
as Out 4 Good in Minneapolis Public Schools? (school
board candidates}
NA
10.Do you oppose military recruitment and training in
public schools?(school board candidates)
NA
3 essay questions
1.Glbt people come in all colors, races, and
ethnicities. In light of this, how will you help our community to see color and celebrate it? What do you see as priorities concerning communities of color?
I will make it a top priority to see that efforts are made to include people of
all races and enthnicities in city government and planning and citizen advisory efforts. As I have done in the campaign I work to reach out to those
communities. I will make sure that information is available in languages and
with translators so that non-English speakers and readers can be informed. I
will attend meetings and hold meetings with recent immigrants and others to be
sure that their needs and interests are represented in government and I will
support efforts by neighborhood and community groups to include all groups and
individuals in neighborhood meetings and planning efforts.
In addition, I will demand that the city operates in a nondiscriminatory manner
and that we require the same from the companies we do business with.
I will work to ensure that everyone understands his or her rights and that we
have resources available to investigate and support individuals who come forward with complaints. To so I will work to provide better support and better
direction to the Minneapolis Human Rights Department. I will advocate for better funding for outreach and investigation to do so.
2.Glbt people come in all genders. In light of this,
what will you do to help our community recognize
gender diversity? How will you work to end sexism and
assure a community that honors, respects, and enables
the dreams of women, men, and transgendered people.
First, we must be sure that Minneapolis and our other public institutions are
free from discrimination in any way. Second, we must look for those companies
that practice equal opportunity and have women and transgender people (as well
as men) working for them, owning them and managing them to do business with.
Thirdly, when concerns of discrimination arise we must investigate them
aggressively. And, finally, we must constantly be educating ourselves about the
damaging effects of racism, classism and sexism.
3.Glbt people are of all class backgrounds and
incomes. How will you work to support all people's
access to dreams, housing, education, etc. in the
office you are seeking?
As a city we must work to ensure social and economic justice throughout
Minneapolis. I am a long term advocate for affordable housing and for living
wage jobs. We must be sure that large companies that receives public subsides
actually pay living wage jobs and that the companies we do business with do the
same. In addition we should expect all companies protect the workers' right to
organize.
People must also be better educated about their rights to housing and in the
work place and about what to do when discrimination is suspected so that we can
end housing and job discrimination.
We should also offer support to new and small community based businesses so that opportunities for self employment are available to the creative people
throughout our community. Finally we must ensure that financial institutions
are fair and meet the banking and credit needs of everyone, including low-income people and we must put an end to unfair predatory lending practices that prey
upon the poorer and more vulnerable citizens in our community.
Cam Gordon
for Ward 2
914 Franklin Terrace
Seward, Mpls. MN 55406-1101
(612) 332-6210
Green Party, Progressive Mn, Labor (UE 1139) and Sierra Club Endorsed