Reid Patrick Reid asks G. Mario Fernandez, John Fullerton…

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Humboldt LGBTQIA Community

With the LGBTQIA community in Humboldt growing, especially in the Cal poly Humboldt Area, what are local officials and legislation gonna do to ensure the safety of this community from hate crimes. This is a recurring problem in Humboldt and as an activist for LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities, I want answers.

— Reid Patrick Reid

Responses

John Fullerton

Hate crimes need to be fully prosecuted under the law.  No plea deals and no suspended sentences should ever be allowed.  That falls under the duties of the DA and the courts.

Discrimination against any group or individuals is never acceptable any place,  any time ever.   We as a society should never tolerate it in social settings or in the workplace.

I pride myself on having a very diverse staff in my business.

G. Mario Fernandez

As elected officials, we can do better to act and be visible in support of the LGBTQIA community. One method of achieving this is to look inward through a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity (DEI) audit of City programs/services and structure. We are currently in a similar process with Eureka City Schools of which I am an elected board member. In further support of our disparate communities, the City can do better to coordinate with law enforcement and the district attorney to establish trust with these communities, so that they may safely report and begin to root out intolerant/hateful behaviors in our public spaces. While we do have laws to mitigate and subvert these hateful behaviors, the efficacy of harsh sentencing as a deterrent is lacking and doesn’t offer support or healing to the affected survivor. Instead, we can look to Restorative Justice programs or alternative sentencing (for both youth and adults)—utilizing social workers and and mental health specialists to remove the burden from law enforcement—and focus on healing and repairing the harm in the community while the perpetrator is held accountable. Below is a link to a report that outlines the myriad issues of hate crime reporting, sentencing, and how Restorative Justice and alternative sentencing may ameliorate some of these issues. (https://law.stanford.edu/publications/exploring-alternative-approaches-to-hate-crimes/)