Jose Peralta Page1 Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City Borough Candidate President Questionnaire Addendum Endorsements:

My Campaign has been endorsed by unions including SEIU Local 32BJ and LIUNA Local 78, organizations including Marriage Equality USA, the Brooklyn-Queens National Organization of Women (NOW) PAC, and the Dominican Officers Association, and elected Officials including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., State Senator Adriano Espaillat, Assemblymembers Kareem Camara and Gabriella Rosa, and Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez. Please explain any activities or experiences that demonstrate your commitment to the LGBT Movement: I have been a proud, long-time and steadfast supporter of LBGT rights and a fighter for equality and justice for all New Yorkers. In the culture and community I come from, my position on LGBT rights has at times cost me supporters and even been used to attack me in campaign literature. But I do not fight for the fair and just treatment of LGBT New Yorkers to win votes; I do it because it is what I believe, and what is right. In my 2009-10 special election race against Hirram Monserrate, I experienced what it is like to be attacked for voting my conscience and saying that I firmly believe that having the chance to marry who you love is a basic human right. I remember seeing a flier with an ominous black background urging people to vote against me because Jose Peralta is a leading spokesperson for the gay communitys (sp.) in NYC. Well you know what? Except for that inexplicable and embarrassing grammatical error, I will wear that statement proudly: I was, am, and will remain a leading spokesperson for the gay community in Queens, in New York City and across this state. I lived through what turned into very much a proxy fight for marriage equality. I had always been a proud and vocal supporter of LGBT rights, but these critical issues became essentially the centerpiece of the most hard-fought and important election of my life to that point. It crystallized the challenges, struggles and triumphs of the LGBT movement for me in a fundamental way and gave me the experience to be a stronger, more forceful and more empathetic advocate for the movement than ever before. With the steadfast support of the LGBT community, I beat Monserratte decisively. Just a few short months later, I was standing on the floor of the New York State Senate Chamber casting one of the deciding votes for Marriage Equality. I said then that someday my children will look back when theyre older and be proud of their

father and that I was casting perhaps the most important vote I would ever make. Now I look back less than three years later and I cannot believe how far we have

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come. I always knew that we were on the right side of history, but the progress of our march has outpaced even my wildest hopes. What experience do you have to demonstrate that you are the best person to represent the office you seek?
A Borough Presidents job is to be the voice of the borough; to speak for its people and fight for its priorities at the City, State, and Federal level. However, in order to speak for Queens, the Borough President must be able to understand, appreciate, and navigate the majestic but challenging diversity of its people. If elected, I will be the first Latino Queens Borough President; but I want to be the Borough President for all of Queens. That is why, as Borough President, I will dedicate myself to unifying the civic, religious, and community leaders in common purpose. This will not be easy, but as the representative of the most diverse district in the City, the State, and likely the nation, I know what it takes to work with and help harmonize disparate voices and I believe that I am uniquely positioned to be a Borough President that brings people together. The hallmark of my career in the state legislature has been communication, and communication is going to be the cornerstone of my Borough Presidency. For example, as a State Senator and ranking minority member on the Labor Committee, I have developed a system where I act as the intermediary between labor organizations and my Senate Colleagues, synthesizing and communicating each sides priorities to the other. I also know how to work with the Mayor, Comptroller, and federal, state, and local politicians to help Queens tap its full potential. My career as a legislator has allowed me to foster these relationships and I will use these connections to help forge a united front in the service of Queens. And, with my first act as Borough President, I will create a new network of liaisons bringing together all three levels of government to make sure we are all on the same page. If we stand together and speak with one voice, there will be no stopping us. I look at our borough and I see limitless potential and a path to shared prosperity. But the Queens Borough President must navigate between the different worlds of labor, development, and community interests to ensure that any project that goes forward benefits everyone. I believe there can be such thing as responsible development development that promotes jobs in Queens, not just in Manhattan, and revives neighborhoods but does it in a way that supports our communities rather than overwhelms them. I believe in a future where local people get good work at good wages; where local communities see more benefits than burdens; where stake holders speak and developers listen; where bulldozers bring union jobs and leave new public fields, affordable housing and school seats in their wake. But you cant have smart development in any community without hearing from the community itself. Thats why I support economic development, but only when it comes with a rock solid community benefits

Jose Peralta Page 3 agreement. I believe that as a longtime champion of workers rights, supporter of economic development, and fighter for the disparate voices of my community I am the best person for this job. As Borough President, I will have the power of the bully pulpit, and the power to call public hearings and generate policy reports on vital issues like LGBT health disparities, workers rights, and fraud against immigrants. I will have the power to directly introduce legislation in the City Council and continuing influence on the conduct of state policy from my more than a decade in Albany. I have the experience and the vision to make the most of what is a misunderstood and often underutilized office. I am not running for Borough President because I need a new job, I am running because I believe I can make a real difference. I also believe that I am the best candidate to fight to make sure Queens does not take a backseat to any other Borough. More than that, I believe I can serve as a spokesman and salesman for the many extraordinary events, restaurants, attractions and neighborhoods Queens already offers. I am passionate about Queens and I believe that I can help translate my passion into responsible growth that will redound to the benefit of all. I also believe my background makes me the best candidate to fight for social progress as Borough President. As mentioned above, I am a staunch progressive but one who comes from a background and culture where progressivism is not always the norm. This has honed my abilities to persuade and to advocate. I came to my worldview the hard way, not as a matter of enculturation. As Borough President, I will use that experience, amplified by the powers of the office to dispel falsehoods and spread a message of justice and human dignity. On issues like LGBT rights and a womans right to choose, there are those whose minds will never be swayed, but I am in a unique position to help bring a paradigm of tolerance and equality to a new generation. Please detail any specific policy proposals you may have that will affect the LGBT community that are not addressed in the next section. As my answers below will reflect, I wholeheartedly support the key priorities of your organization and will passionately advocate for them as Borough President. However, I also have a number of proposals that are not reflected below. For instance, I plan to create a task force to generate solutions to some of the problems that face minority and immigrant LGBT communities. While this will encompass things like HIV/AIDs funding, education, and treatment as well as issues like no condoms as evidence and stop and frisk disparities, it will also touch upon things like language services and cultural education. Additionally, my network of State and Federal liaisons will help push LGBT issues beyond New York City where the need is even more dire. I will fight for things like federal recognition of same-sex partnership for the purpose of immigration sponsorship and continue pushing for GENDA statewide. Any discrimination against

Jose Peralta Page 4 individuals on the basis of sexual orientation must receive heightened scrutiny under the law, and that will require someone able to exert meaningful influence outside the bounds of New York City, something I have worked to attain for more than a decade. I am also working on legislation to deal with LGBT hate crimes including a bill that would prevent an individual who has committed a hate crime from avoiding the increased penalty by falsely claiming to be LGBT him or herself. What the bill would do is make it so you would have to have a pre-trial hearing in order to use your race, religion sexual orientation etc. as a defense to a hate crime. Additionally, in the wake of the recent, tragic LGBT murders in Queens, I am examining options to make it illegal to lure an adult to a secluded place using the Internet or other means with the intention of committing a crime. Both bills still need work, but we are working to make sure they would not have unintended consequences and would actually help stop these heinous crimes. I have a great many other specific initiatives in mind, including policies such as the one introduced by Councilmember Dromm which would require the Board of Education to include key moments in LGBT history in the standard curriculum, but my most important policy will be continuing and expand my outreach to the LGBT community so I can hear from the experts what steps are needed. I believe that, if we continue to work together, we can help bring a new attitude, a new paradigm to Queens. HIV/AIDS Please explain your position on using discretionary funds to support agencies like HASA. My belief is that discretionary funds should be used where they will do the most good, particularly for our most vulnerable communities. While I will consider every use of discretionary funds individually, it is difficult to imagine many programs that do more good or do more to help vulnerable individuals and communities than making certain than critical benefits and services are provided to persons living with HIV or AIDs and their families. Would you support yearly statistics of both geographic areas where HIV is most prevalent and as well as which populations in those neighborhoods are most effected, and then allocate yearly funding to services and communities based on these results? While a technocratic approach is not always a panacea, we should always do our best to ensure a full understanding of a problem and strive to most efficiently allocate scarce resources. Supporting this sort of statistical approach seems like basic commonsense to me. We cannot afford to waste resources where they are not needed while leaving other

Jose Peralta Page 5 populations underserved and in crisis. As Queens Borough President, I will fight to make sure Queens receives its fair share, but never at the expense of populations in even greater need. We cannot afford to play pork barrel politics with something as critical as HIV and AIDs services, and I would fully support a system based on the facts on the ground. Community Boards Many Community Boards routinely oppose applications for liquor license in their areas, particularly if the proposed venue is tailored to appeal to the LGBT community. Please explain your position on the appropriate balance between support for nightlife, minority communities, and respect for neighborhood concerns. I am sympathetic to, and supportive of, the position of many Community Boards, who feel as if their neighborhoods are overcrowded with nightclubs that do not abide by community standards and often serve as fronts for illegal cabarets and drug hotspots. However, nightlife options are critical to making a vibrant neighborhood and wellfunctioning nightclubs, bars and lounges can be important revenue generators and fixtures of a community. To me, the absolute key to finding the right balance is making sure that there are fair and reasonable standards that are applied objectively and uniformly. If a neighborhood and location are appropriate for a nightclub, the ethnicity or sexual orientation of the presumed clientele should not be a factor. If an enterprise has a trustworthy and proven ownership and management group and the sighting location is appropriate for a nightclub, it should not matter in the slightest if it is a bar tailored to appeal to the LGBT community. I will not stand for coded references to the wrong kind of clientele and, in my administration, equal treatment and objectivity will be the standards used to judge every decision. Please outline the criteria you would use in selecting Community Board members. On a macro level, I believe in community boards that reflect the social, political, ethnic, and economic diversity of the neighborhoods they represent. I would also strive to ensure that the community boards are filled with a diversity of knowledge and experience in order to attain the desired holistic approach. On an individual level, I want to see members who represent that diversity, but who are open-minded and empathetic to the needs and concerns of others. There is a delicate balance between finding individuals who will be stalwart champions of similarly situated individuals, who also understand the need to be tolerant and supportive of others. I am extremely mindful of the need to have civil discourse in the community board setting, but I have no desire to see community boards populated with yes men and yes women. I want qualified, knowledgeable individuals who care deeply about their communities and are extremely involved. This will not be a patronage system, but a meritocracy. While I do not believe in quotas, I do believe that it is absolutely vital to make sure we have a fair and accurate representation of minority groups, so that no one is left behind.

Jose Peralta Page 6 NYPD What changes would you implement to ensure that LGBT institutions are treated equally by enforcement agencies? Much like with community boards and liquor licenses, I believe fervently in equal objective treatment of institutions by enforcement agencies. I am already deeply engrossed in these issues due to my long-time quest to clean up and improve Roosevelt Avenue. I have used my position to bring together enforcement agencies and stakeholders to address problems such as disparate treatment of LGBT establishments. Over the years, I have built relationships that will allow me to help address these issues from the inside and I have also been more than willing to use outside public pressure to help bring about necessary changes. As Borough President, I will keep in constant contact with LGBT advocates and business owners to help ensure that I am kept abreast of any problems. I will then be able to use my relationships and bully pulpit in tandem to help bring about any changes that are required. I will be able to hold public hearings on these disparities, and work to generate policy solutions. If necessary, I will also have the power to directly introduce legislation into the City Council that will help ensure the codification of equal treatment. Do you support reforming stop and frisk? Please detail any specific changes to program you believe are necessary. I believe that thoughtful and justified stop-and-frisks can play a critical role in crime prevention. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the current system is broken. For that reason I believe that we need to implement real reforms including the creation of an NYPD Inspector General. I also believe we must place additional emphasis on the requirements for when a stop may be escalated into a frisk, problems of cross-lingual, cross-cultural and cross-racial understanding, and other potential flashpoints that may lead to the unnecessary use of force. I have sent several letters to Police Commissioner Kelly expressing serious concerns over the fact that LGBTQ and transgendered individuals have been disproportionately targeted for stop-and-frisks, particularly in the 110th and 115th precincts, both of which are located in my Senate district. While I believe firmly in the power of targeted cultural sensitivity training aimed at addressing these disparities, it appears that we may need to implement stronger discrimination standards under the law. Additionally, we need publicly available data on stop and frisk and a body, such as an IG, that has real power to study disparities and implement new policies to address inequities. We must do away with quotas, formal or informal, and work to bring real transparency and public oversight to the program. I have also expressed concern over the use of questionable bases for reasonable suspicion such as furtive movement, which can undergird discrimination and abuse. Additionally, we need to do away with laws that

Jose Peralta Page 7 create disparate outcomes and perverse incentives such as allowing condoms to be used as evidence of prostitution and penalizing open possession of marijuana discovered in a stop and frisk above private possession. We also need to train citizens on their rights and responsibilities in these situations. Properly executed stop-and-frisks can reduce crime, but when the tool is misused or misapplied it can sow distrust and resentment in a community and actively make life more difficult for law enforcement and civilians alike. Do you oppose the use of condoms as evidence of prostitution in criminal cases? I strongly oppose the use of condoms as evidence in criminal cases and I co-sponsor and strongly support the state-level bill eliminating this noxious practice. This law has been a consistent flashpoint of misuse that disproportionately affects minority, immigrant and LGBT communities. Not only is the current law ripe for discriminatory abuse it is also an unconscionable dereliction of responsibility to public health. Making people frightened to carry condoms when we should be zealously advocating for safe sex is beyond illogical. A law that leads to subjecting people to harassment, saddling law abiding individuals with criminal records, and discouraging practices which will reduce HIV and AIDs, STDs and unwanted pregnancies is completely unacceptable and should be abolished immediately. Runaway and Homeless Youth What will you do to expand access to services for runaway and homeless youth? I will do as I have always done and fight for more state and city resources to help address what is essentially an under-the-radar epidemic. Just the other week I joined my colleague in the State Senate in sending a letter calling for $4 million in additional funding for runaway and homeless youth services in the 2013 Budget. I will use the powers and trappings of my office to raise awareness, educate and develop substantive policy proposals to address this issue. I would also strongly consider using discretionary funding to assist a worthy program that provided these important services. While obviously more funding is necessary, I think raising mainstream awareness of this issue is the most important long-term strategy must involve raising mainstream awareness of this crisis. I would work to create a widespread messaging strategy across the entire city, state and federal Queens delegation. LGBT Services and Funding Have you made member items grants or supported LGBT funding requests? While State Legislators have not had member items for the past several years, I have strongly supported funding for LGBT health and social services in every way it has been

Page 8 in my power to do so. In just this past budget period, beyond joining Senator Holymans quest for more funding for runaway and homeless youth services, I also sent letters and advocated for the maintenance of a dedicated funding stream for LGBT health services. I worked with Queens Pride House to draft a letter to Governor Cuomo expressing my concern at the commingling of these funds in a generalized health budget. I argued that if this dedicated funding stream, represented by C grants was to be eliminated, it could mean that as many as half the member organizations comprising the statewide LGBT Health and Human Service Network sponsored by the Empire State Pride Agenda could go under if this funding was not restored. If this had been allowed to happen, it would have been an absolutely devastating blow to a particularly vulnerable community and would have represented a tragic abdication of New York States public health responsibilities. Fortunately this dedicated funding was restored and the planned cut was reduced by half. This is only one recent example of my advocacy for LGBT services, but there are countless others across my legislative career. If I became Borough President I would absolutely give strong consideration to helping fund any number of excellent LGBT services providers throughout Queens. What actions will you take to support the LGBT Community Center in your Borough? Queens is fortunate to have an excellent LGBT Community Center in Queens Pride House. Queens Pride House is the only LGBT community center in the borough of Queens and it has been operating since 1997. They provide approximately 4,000 referrals to LGBT-supportive health care and social service provides, as well as a safe space for their members and clients, many of whom are immigrants, predominantly from Latin America and Asia. They also offer free supportive counseling to community members and support groups for transgendered people and for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking men and women. As a State Senator, I have been strongly supportive of Queens Pride House and my support will be able to continue and expand as Borough President. I would like to help Queens Pride House expand its existing operations and join its efforts to expand targeted services to emerging immigrant communities, and to underserved demographics including LGBT teens and seniors. I will continue to partner with them in critical initiatives and maintain my open door policy to their leadership and members. There is nothing more important than a safe space and we must never allow the existence of such a space to be jeopardized. Other Please state concrete achievements for the LGBT community that you are responsible for in your current or previous elected office.

Jose Peralta Page 9 I served as one of the deciding votes in the passage of the Marriage Equality Act after decisively winning an election that was considered by many to be a referendum or proxy fight on marriage equality. I consistently voted for and pushed the Dignity for All Students Act, which went into effect in 2012, and combats bias-based bullying and harassment of youth in public schools. I am a Co-Sponsor, and longtime vocal advocate for GENDA. I voted for it year after year in the Assembly and have pushed hard for its passage in the state senate. I have stood before those who opposed GENDA and argued to their faces that it is unconscionable that, in many parts of the state, an individual can lose his or her job or home and even be denied the right to do something as simple eat at a restaurant based on gender identity. Fortunately New Yorks despicable anti-sodomy law was repealed in 2000 before I was first elected, but I have always fought for personal privacy and science based education and everything that comes with it. That means: Opposing abstinence only education and fighting for science based policies on contraception and STD prevention; supporting the Reproductive Rights Act and tying it in with the need for the government to stay out of our bedrooms and our doctors offices; and upporting widespread availability of reproductive technology. I have helped secure millions of dollars in funding for various LGBT health and social services organizations and programs and helped ensure that state and federal health dollars are allocated to HIV and AIDs services. I believe I have an extremely strong record on LGBT rights and issues, but, should I become Borough President, my voice and my ability to help the movement will be amplified exponentially. Have you endorsed any LGBT Candidates? Which ones? I have endorsed and supported many LGBT candidates including Councilmember Danny Dromm, Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, Candidate for Council Lynn Schulman, State Senator Brad Hoylman, former State Senator Tom Duane, and Assemblyman Danny ODonnell among others. If endorsed will you display the endorsement of Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC in your literature whenever you list other endorsements and will you display the endorsement on your website? I will display your endorsement prominently and proudly.