LGBT Advisory Committee Announces Recommendations
Written by DCist Contributor Christopher Durocher.
If the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has a month to call their own, it’s October. The month begins with National Coming Out Day and ends with Halloween — the gay equivalent to Christmas. It’s fitting, then, that the Mayor’s LGBT Advisory Committee used this month to present to Mayor Anthony Williams its Committee Report and Recommendations, a nine page document highlighting issues of concern to the D.C. LGBT community and outlining over a dozen policy recommendations.
In an October 19 press release, the Advisory Committee identified four key policy initiatives. Among the recommendations, the Committee highlights the need for the District to begin collecting and analyzing LGBT health and workforce data in the same manner in which it does race, ethnic and gender-specific data. According to the report, such data collection systems would make “the District healthcare services system more responsive to the needs of LGBT residents,” and “help the city understand the needs of the LGBT people in the workforce and community.” The report also points out that “[w]here discriminatory patterns are found the District may engage in educational or enforcement initiatives of the Human Rights Act,” making it clear that the recommendations are not toothless sentiments of political correctness, but rather tools to help enforce current District laws.
The Committee also urges the creation of “safe spaces” for LGBT persons in schools and other government funded programs and agencies. The report notes that, in order to be effective, such safe spaces must extend beyond the normal hours of operation of community-based organizations. The Committee recognizes that such safe spaces only work if the LGBT community can always count on them — whether during the school day or after hours, LGBT students must be confident that they will always be safe from homophobic harassment and violence while at school. The report also notes that safe spaces only exist where programs are designed to be culturally sensitive to and inclusive of sexual minorities.
The Advisory Committee also calls for the development of ongoing LGBT “cultural competency” training for all D.C. government employees, emphasizing the need for such training among law enforcement, first responders, correctional staff, and emergency response staff. The report notes that of primary concern is the need for public safety personnel to demonstrate more sensitivity “when responding to emergencies and crimes involving LGBT residents, particularly transgender persons.” The Advisory Committee encourages the creation of programs similar to that of the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, which held a Crime Prevention and Awareness Workshop for transgender and transsexual D.C. residents yesterday.
The Advisory Committee recognizes that Mayor William’s term will soon end, but challenged him to implement its recommendations prior to his leaving office. In anticipation of a Adrian Fenty’s victory in next Tuesday’s mayoral election, the Committee also hopes “that this report will be included as part of [Mayor William’s] comprehensive transition plan for the incoming mayor.” In a letter to Mayor Williams, Committee Chair A. Billy S. Jones explained that “If implemented, these actions will make the District of Columbia a better, more inclusive city.”
The LGBT Advisory Committee is comprised of 22 mayoral appointees from various D.C. LGBT civil rights, health, church, business and civic organizations. The Committee reports to both the Office of the Mayor and the Office of LGBT Affairs. Its recommendations were culled from feedback it received at the D.C. LGBT Citizen Summit held in April 2005 as well as work by the Advisory Committee’s standing subcommittees on Economic Opportunity, Public Safety and Law, Health and Social Justice, and Education.