1996 ELECTION QUESTIONNAIRE (Please circle one number to indicate your opinion) Name _______________________________________________ Phone (_____) ___________ Address_______________________________ Office Seeking ____________________________ Signature_______________________________________________ Party_________________ 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