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Page 3 Super Tuesday Candidates Where do they stand on our issues? Of the ten surviving presidential candidates, six have returned a comprehensive survey circulated by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). The six who decided to address the concerns of the lesbian and gay communities are Vice-President George Bush (R), Governor Michael Dukakis (D MA), Congressman Richard (Dick) Gephardt (D-MO), Senator Albert Gore (D-TN), the Reverend Jesse Jackson (D), and Senator Paul Simon (D-IL). Senator Gary Hart's (D-CO) responses to a similar 1984 campaign survey, and public comments and policy papers issued by the remaining four campaigns, Senator Robert Dole (R-KS), Congressman Jack Kemp (R- NY), and the Reverend Pat Robertson (R) were used by the NGLTF to compare the candidates' commitments to issues of concern to gay men and lesbians.^- AIDS policy issues have garnered enough attention during this campaign to ensure that all of the candidates have issued statements meant to assure their constituency that they consider "AIDS the number one health priority." In response to questions meant to determine how they would respond to the epidemic, the candidates predictably aligned themselves according to party lines. With the exception of Senator Hart, who presumably has not had an opportunity to respond to updated AIDS information during his resurrected campaign, all of the Democratic candidates have publicly supported the pending Federal AIDS Policy Act which links HIV testing and counseling, demands test result confidentiality, and bans discrimination on the basis of HIV test results. All of the Republican candidates chose not to address the issue directly. Senator Dole did break rank with the Republican silence on discrimination against PWA's by endorsing the idea of Federal legislation banning discrimination against people infected with the HIV virus. Vice President Bush opposed such legislation, only saying that he supported "protecting those who do not have the virus." Congressman Kemp and the Reverend Robertson chose not to address the concerns of people already infected. Whether or not to test the general population for AIDS has been a divisive issue in both federal and local politics. Bush, Kemp, and Robertson strongly support HIV testing, with Robertson going so far as to predict that states will eventually be forced to quarantine PWA's. Only Senator Dole opposes widespread mandatory testing, reserving himself to advocating voluntary testing of the general population and mandatory testing of immigrants and prisoners. Both Robertson and Kemp advocate monogamy and chastity as the only means of prevention of the spread of AIDS. In a USA Today article, Reverend Robertson stated that "promoting condoms to fight AIDS (is) 'at best illusory at worst an absolute fraud' The Reverend Jesse Jackson was the candidate most specific in regards to AIDS education. He states that both AIDS Continued on page 6 Immigrants Foreign Service Job Corps Applicants • HIV testing for health insurance • HIV testing for life insurance Lesbian/Gay Civil Rights • Federal Lesbian & Gay Civil Rights Bill * As President, would make such a bill a part of Legislative Agenda • Classifying Anti-Lesbian/Gay Violence as a Civil Rights Violation • An Executive Order banning Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in the federal government, including military and security agencies • An Executive Order banning Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by contractors with the federal government • Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment • Freedom of choice on Abortion • Comparable worth standards be factored into public sector wage scales • Including "non-traditional" families in Government Employee Benefit Programs •Adoption & foster Care by Gays & Lesbians • Provide Equality for Lesbians & Gays in Government hiring •Appointing Judicial Committees who are sensitive to the concerns of all minorities and women's issues ✓ Supports X Opposes O No Answer ■ Undecided • Federally mandated AIDS education in: Grade School High School •Targeted education & prevention programs for minorities • Federal Legislation banning Discrimination against PWA's and HIV-infected •Mandatory testing for: The Military Prison Inmates Marriage License Applicants AIDS POLICY ISSUES • $2 billion recommended funding by National Academy of Science • Federal AIDS Policy Act linking testing and counseling, demanding test result confidentiality & banning discrimination on the basis of test results •Widespread mandatory HIV testing • Adjusting 2-year wait for PWA's on Social Security Disability Insurance