Lavender Greens Endorsement Questionaire
Answered by Scott Vreeland Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board Candidate District 3
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.(are there existing contracts that require domestic partner benefits and what is the structure?)
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/statement 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}
Yes.
10. Do you oppose military recruitment and training in public schools?(school board candidates)
Concerning # 10, I am not an
unabashed supporter of the military and I
don
Three 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?
(see below)
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?
(see below)
3. Glbt
people are of all class backgrounds and incomes. How will you work to
support all people
After giving some thought to
the essay questions, I would like to
respond to all three in one statement. As a fairly new member to the Green Party, I see the 10 key values as a very valuable guide for addressing
the issues you raise about GLBT, gender race,
and class. Social and economic
justice/ecological wisdom/grassroots democracy/nonviolence/feminism/
decentralization/ community based economics/ personal
and global responsibility/ future focus / respect for diversity. It is good to
have a map of where you are going and as a Park Board candidate, I am glad to
be seeking a position with an organization that has as its stated goals and
mission the same values. I taught Human Relations as an
undergraduate teaching assistant in two
formats, one a kind of show and tell of
the Native American, gay, ethnic, racial and social progressives, the other
format was a psychology kind of approach to the nature of prejudice with the
assumption that knowledge of conscious and unconscious mechanisms of prejudice
would help people be less prejudiced.
These were required classes for all teachers with the underlying presumption
that you couldn
I learned a great deal and
did a lot of work on the personal
responsibility of who you are being a major portion
of what you are teaching. I have a lot of thoughts about teaching about the issues you raise.
In my own life I think that I
have learned the most from being
there. Some of this is intentionally going somewhere or working with
specific groups, but a lot of it is just learning from people you meet. I am
not sure this is a great revelation, but sharing the joys and sorrows of gay
coworkers and friends opens you up to harsh realities of being
excluded from hospital ER rooms because you are not family. I have some
insight into transgender issues because a friend has gone through a sex change.
This doesn