The Privacy Rights Education Project
or
We all want Liberty, especially when pursuing Licence
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1996 ELECTION QUESTIONNAIRE
(Please circle one number to indicate your opinion)
Name _______________________________________________
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Office Seeking ____________________________
Signature_______________________________________________
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1. Missouri law section 566.090(1) prohibits private sexual acts between
adults of the same sex. PREP has been working to repeal this law. Do you
support or oppose the repeal of this law?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 1--Strongly support repeal. I support the repeal of this law as
the sexual practices of consenting adults on private property is not a
legitimate concern of the authorities or government.
2. Several bills were filed in the 1996 legislative session that would
prohibit the state of Missouri from recognizing marriages performed
between persons of the same sex. Do you support or oppose same-sex
marriage?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 4 -- Strongly oppose State recognition of same-sex "marriage."
I have opposed state recognition of same-gender marriage in the past as
I do not recognize homosexual coupling as the equivalent of marriage. I
have proposed that the government get out of the marriage-licensing
business altogether as marriage is a private contract between man and
woman, and is sometimes an ecclesiastical concern as well. Allowing the
government power to recognize something gives it the power to deny it as
well.
3. Anonymous HIV testing is a key component in the battle against AIDS,
because it facilitates the education that is an important tool in slowing
the spread of the HIV virus. Do you support or oppose anonymous testing?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 3 -- Oppose anonymous testing to some degree, government-sponsored
anonymous testing absolutely. I support anonymous testing for those
persons, knowing that their lifestyles have made them vulnerable to AIDS,
are responsible enough to voluntarily find out their medical condition
and if infected, refrain from spreading disease to innocent others.
People who prefer anonymous testing would go to their private physician.
However, a physician's first duty, in the case of infectious diseases,
is to the health of the overall community. If the physician recognizes a
source of disease, he should take all necessary steps to isolate it and
keeping it from spreading. There is no Constitutional right to spread
disease.
I recognize, on the other hand, the benefits of anonymous testing. If
a person suspects that he is infected, but still wishes to remain
sexually active to the expense of innocent others, that person might very
well refuse to voluntarily get tested. So therefore there will have to
be some form of mandatory testing for the irresponsible.
So I support anonymous testing and the keeping of the results secret
for sexually responsible adults and the use of mandatory testing and
penile and vaginal tattooing for the irresponsible. A mixture of voluntary
and mandatory testing programs will need to be used to responsibly
safeguard both the rights and survival of both the individual and
society. The crux of this matter comes down to the testing doctor and to
whom the test results are released. The decisions and guidelines reached
must be debated and resolved somewhere between the competing ideologies
of privacy rights and medical necessity.
4. PREP believes that mandatory HIV testing is an invasion of an
individual's right to privacy. Do you support or oppose mandatory testing?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 2 -- Somewhat support mandatory testing. The reasons for my
answer were brought up after question 3.
On issues of such importance, ideologues on both sides are essentially
irresponsible.
5. AIDS is a health crisis that will eventually impact on a majority of
Missourians. Do you support or oppose state funding for AIDS services?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 3 -- Somewhat oppose.
. ". . . eventually impact on a majority of Missourians?" If you
cause a panic, the end result will be an unnecessary tightening of the
rules and less freedom and privacy for all.
Unless or until AIDS is spread pneumatically, it will remain a disease
for the socially suspect and politically weak homosexuals, drug users,
and prostitutes. However, society as a whole cannot foolishly expect
disease to remain exclusively in the lower social strata.
I support limited state funding for general public health. However, if
funds for AIDS are to be spent, they will be spent predominantly on
mandatory testing and not as a welfare sinecure for the already infected.
6. House Bill 1637 from the 1996 legislative session stated that
homosexual and bisexual persons are unfit to be parents, despite studies
that show no adverse results in children raised in such families. Do you
support or oppose the rights of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals to be
parents and have legal custody of children?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 2. I support the rights of homosexual parents to be parents over
their biological children. In the case of custody over non-biological or
foster children, the issue of homosexuality might or might not be
relevant, but should be raised along with the prospective parents
financial and social status to determine the best interests of the
adoptive child.
7. PREP believes that reproductive choice should be a fundamental right
for all women. Do you support or oppose a woman's right to choose
abortion?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 4 -- Strongly oppose such a "right." No one has the right to
destroy the life of another.
8. PREP believes that blanket and random drug testing are invasions of
an individual's privacy. Do you support or oppose blanket and random
drug testing?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 4. I oppose random and blanket drug testing as a violation of
the Bill of Rights. Testing for drugs after an accident, like blood-alcohol
testing, should be allowed provided there is probable cause and all
Constitutional safeguards are followed. But blanket and random drug
testing is nothing less than statist witch-hunting.
Drug Prohibition maintains the profit margins of smugglers, fills our
prisons, spreads AIDS, increases government power over the lives of
citizens, corrupts the police and judiciary and rides rough shod over
the Bill of Rights. Time to end it.
9. Many of Missouri's municipalities have laws restricting the
relationships between persons who share a home. PREP believes that
shared housing should be based on space available and not on the
relationship of the occupants. Do you support or oppose restrictions on
shared housing?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 4. I strongly oppose any government restrictions on shared
housing. Any restrictions imposed should be imposed by the owner or
landlord over his private property. Public property creates a demand for
bad public policy.
10. PREP believes that equal rights should apply to all citizens,
regardless of sexual orientation. Do you support or oppose the inclusion
of sexual orientation language in Missouri anti-discrimination laws?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 4 -- Strongly oppose. I do not trust anyone to draft laws which
should not exist in the first place. Anti-discrimination laws are nothing
more than politicians imposing their own prejudices and making them law
to be enforced by policemen.
11. PREP believes that health education curricula should include instruction
regarding the range of reproductive choices, the variety of family
structures, and the wealth of options in personal sexuality. PREP also
believes that health education curricula should be age-appropriate. Do
you support or oppose an inclusive approach to health education?
support 1 2 3 4 oppose
Circle 4. I strongly oppose any such measure because I strongly oppose
the extension of politically active, results-poor government-run public
schools. The number-one goal of a Lindstedt administration would be the
extermination of the government school system in favor of a wide range of
private, church, and home schools chosen and financially supported by
parents of school children.
". . . range of reproductive choices?" Are you talking about teaching
little girls promiscuity and abortion? ". . .the variety of family
structures?" Let the old-style Mormons teach it in their own schools.
". . . wealth of options in personal sexuality? Is that the same as
lecturing the little nippers about safe sodomy? Masturbation is one thing
not necessary to be taught in this country; it just comes natural.
No, I don't think I can support any of the above proposals. In fact,
I'm certain of it.
Additional Comments.
There are a number of issues upon which I agree with the Privacy Rights
Educational Project. I agree wholeheartedly in increasing the overall
freedom within our society and hope that responsibility develops to use
those regained freedoms reliably.
However, after reading your questions and sensing the premises behind
them, I am concerned that upon gaining your freedoms you will institute
more government and government programs in order to advance your agenda
of license rather than self-disciplined liberty. Perhaps I am wrong in
my concerns. But I act upon my own principles and concerns.
Sincerely yours,
Martin Lindstedt
Libertarian Candidate for Governor of Missouri
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