Answers to GLBT Alliance Candidate Endorsement Questionnaire 

1. Please tell us why you would like the endorsement of Santa Cruz County¹s grassroots progressive gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender political organization.

As the only openly queer candidate for Santa Cruz (or any other) City Council, and one of just two running for local office, I would very much appreciate validation for my issues and campaign from the GLBTIQ community. I have worked very hard over the years on our issues, and would like to extend that work to actually directly formulating public policy as elected official. I also, honestly, think it is important that we, as a community, participate in electoral politics and in the process of city government - we need to reach out to the system, as well as demanding that it reach out to us. I hope to act as a role model and an inspiration for others who might seek office in the future. It is astounding to me that we have no other locally elected representatives in office at the moment beyond John Laird. This needs to change, and I hope to have the support of the GLBT Alliance in making that happen.

2. Please tell us about your history with the glbt community.

For an extensive record of my history of community involvement, I invite you to view the "Experience" section of my web site at http://www.thomasleavitt.org/, which includes full documentation of my history of activism within the queer community.

To start, in high school, I worked as a paid intern for the country's first openly lesbian Mayor of a major U.S. city (Santa Monica); during that period I also worked for another lesbian activist/political consultant/public relations specialist. I came out in my first year at Occidental College in 1990-91, and was a member of the school's BGALA (Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Association). Among other memories, I took to the streets to protest the veto of AB101 by Pete Wilson, helped occupy the Administration office to demand respect for people of color and other minorities, and was turned away with other protesters when we attempted to enter the Federal Building in Los Angeles.

Both companies I've founded have offered benefits for domestic partners.

More recently, I've been an involved and active member of SoBOA (South Bay Bisexual Organizers and Activists) and the GLBT Alliance, as well as queer, bi, and poly activist groups within the Green Party. I have also co-hosted BiFriendly Santa Cruz every month since January of 2000. I have also written hundreds of letters and emails and made dozens of phone calls over the years to lobby various elected officials at all levels on GLBTIQ issues, and am a member of Lambda Letters. As well, I helped organize the SoBOA (bi community) presence at the pride festivals and marches in Santa Cruz, San Jose, and San Francisco this year, staffing the booth at all three locations as well.

I am an activist and a leader, and hope to extend that history by serving in those roles on our City Council.

3. Please describe your philosophy for working with minority communities and, specifically, how this will manifest itself in working with the glbt community.

The first principles have got to be outreach, respect, and empowerment. As well, energy and attention need to be focused on members of the community whose health and well being is most at risk, and whose voice is not being heard.

As to how this has already manifested itself, I have been a strong advocate for an inclusionary GLBTIQ politics, advocating on behalf of trans folk for inclusion in language and practice at every level, consciously reaching out to that community (and others) for inclusion in events such as the GLBT Alliance's Forum on Bisexuality, etc. and for awareness and inclusion of Inter-sex individuals as well when language is being crafted.

I've also been an advocate for youth, working locally with School Voices to ensure that queer issues are addressed within our county's educational institutions, and with the SCCS to ensure that queer friendly policies are reflected in literature put forth by that institution, and taking advantage of the opportunity to review and evaluate the "Family Life" curricula dealing with GLBT issues that they proposed adopting last year.

Finally, I've also been an advocate for the queer, bi and poly communities within all organizations I've worked with; I am a founding member of the Lavender Greens Caucus, and helped found two other Green queer groups as well: the BiGreens and the PolyGreens.

4. If elected, will you be willing to work with the GLBT Alliance to advocate for equal benefits for all city employees, including employees with domestic partners, if your city does not already offer such parity? Please explain.

I will work to strengthening the equitability of the City Santa Cruz's existing domestic partner coverage by providing salary supplements to address the inequity resulting from domestic partner coverage being treated as taxable income.

I also want to see benefits coverage broadened to include all individuals in long term, committed relationships, whether they be pairs, triads, quads, etc. If a person has two life partners, they shouldn't be forced to deny one of them (or one set of children, either) access to health care. We should honor and respect all families, regardless of structure. This is an issue which is very important to me, being both a bi and a poly activist, as the overlap between those two communities is naturally very strong - a bi person who expresses his or her sexuality with both genders, is inherently poly at some level.

On the issue of benefits - I want to see medical coverage extended to transgendered people who are transitioning on the job. This has a powerful symbolic effect, and will increase the City's ability to attract highly qualified transgendered individuals.

5. If elected, will you be willing to work with the GLBT Alliance to advocate for a city-wide nondiscrimination ordinance which includes gender identity, if your city does not already have such an ordinance? Please explain.

I will work with leaders in communities outside of Santa Cruz to see that ordinances similar to our own non-discrimination ordinance are enacted elsewhere, and will encourage City Staff and other Santa Cruzans familiar with the impact of our ordinance, to work with groups and elected officials interested in implementing such ordinances.

I will also advocate for the inclusion of transgender protections in federal and state legislation, specifically ENDA (The Employment Non-Discrimination Act).

6. If elected, will you be willing to work with the GLBT Alliance, or other appropriate organizations, on creating a curriculum for awareness training for employees concerning glbt issues? Please explain.

Yes. I would love to work with organizations such as the GLBT Alliance, the Queer Youth Task Force, Triangle Speakers, etc. and regional and national organizations, such as SoBOA and the Bisexual Resource Center, to ensure that all City employees are equipped to deal effectively with our very diverse community, and that "cultural competency" is extended throughout City Government. I would also work with these organizations to develop a priorities for implementation, and guidelines for evaluation and complaint gathering, etc.

I think we can learn a lot from the educational curricula that has been developed in this region for young people. Santa Cruz City Schools has implemented a curricula developed by the Lesbian and Gay Parents Association (a San Francisco based group) that I was tremendously impressed by when I evaluated it last year. I suspect that much of their work could be re-purposed for use with adults.

7. Will you insist that the city disassociate from organizations - such as the Boy Scouts and The Salvation Army - that have clearly stated their intent to discriminate against glbt people? Please explain.

Yes, and I stood up and pointed out that the City Council was about to give the Salvation Army a $2,100 piece of equipment, which I thought was completely inappropriate (as far as I can tell, the donation went through anyway via the back door, but hopefully some people were educated in the process).

8. Do you intend, if elected, to make representative appointments to commissions and other advisory bodies, and do you plan to consider the glbt community in making those appointments? Please explain.

Santa Cruz City Council members have the ability to appoint individuals to many commissions, and I fully intend to reach out to the queer community (especially to youth, seniors and people of color) in the process of filling those appointments. I also intend to act as a mentor for new leaders, and to work to develop and strengthen neighborhood and community organizations within which they can grow and develop. We need to dramatically strengthen the institutions through which our very vigorous and outspoken civic culture mediates its interactions with representative government.

9. Do you support needle exchange programs to help curb the spread of HIV? Please explain.

Yes, and they do not only curb the spread of HIV, they help curb the spread of many other very dangerous and life-threatening blood borne diseases, such as Hepatitis C. And I support the placement of needle drop boxes in any location where needles have been found and constitute a hazard to the public and public workers. I support any and all harm-reduction techniques that have been proven to save lives and decrease public heath risks.

10. The loss of the county utility tax has hurt AIDS funding locally, on top of ever-decreasing state and federal funding; would you be willing to lobby for an increase in funding for HIV services and prevention? Please explain.

Yes. We should be spending money at the front end of the cycle, on effective prevention measures, and on effective wellness measures, so that we can maximize the resources available to address the needs of the sick and dying. We need to look for new funding sources and to broaden the city's economic base, so that more resources are available to address these issues... the City is singularly dependent on our Downtown for revenue generation, and I believe this distorts the dialogue on a whole host of issues by unnecessarily heightening the stakes in any policy decision.

11. If elected, what will you do to strengthen the city¹s relationship with the glbt community?

I would work to establish vehicles for dialogue with all communities. The City currently does not have a Human Relations Commission, such as has worked so effectively to promote the cause of human rights in San Jose. Nor does it have any other committee with a broad agenda under which Social Service program expenditures and policies are discussed or otherwise evaluated. Nor does it have a Youth Affairs commission.

I would also continue to work with the various organizations I am a member of, to the maximum extent possible consistent with other public service duties.

12. If you receive The GLBT Alliance¹s endorsement, will you display it in your campaign literature?

Yes. I would highlight it on the endorsement page, incorporate it into any literature where inclusion of endorsements is appropriate, etc.

13. Please provide us with a list of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgender individuals and/or organizations that have endorsed you.

I haven't made a serious effort to seek endorsements from anyone, to this point, although I welcome any that are offered (this means you my dear reader :) ), and have received the support of individuals such as Linda Lemaster, Pat Clark and David Silva (all former City Council candidates) whose work and dedication I admire and respect.

14. Please provide us with a list of other individuals and/or organizations that have endorsed you.

See above, and my web site, where if you are so inclined, you can endorse me on-line (and donate, and volunteer to work on the campaign).

15. Is there anything else you¹d like to tell us?

I very much appreciate the work of the GLBT Alliance and its members, and that of each and every organization and activist that assumes the responsibility of working to advance the progressive agenda within and outside of the queer community. It is vital that we, as queer people, support these institutions, and that our elected leaders work with them to address our issues and help educate the broader public about the justice. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to your members and to engage in a dialogue with you about the important issues that we, as a community, face.