Anchorage Assembly passes state’s first LGBT anti-discrimination measure

Mobilized by a coalition of faith groups, opponents of the measure wore red. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)
Mobilized by a coalition of faith groups, opponents of the measure wore red. (Photo by Zachariah Hughes/KSKA)

Just before midnight Tuesday, the Anchorage Assembly voted to extend full legal protections to residents on the basis of sexual orientation and gender — the first such ordinance in the state of Alaska.

After extending the discussion on 17 proposed amendments, the body voted overwhelmingly to amend the city’s rules on discrimination. Many see it as simply a modest update to laws already on the books.

“It expands our notions of equality to include people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity,” said assemblymember Bill Evans, the ordinance’s original sponsor.

“It basically says that those are issues that it’s just not an employer’s business to get into.”

Evans thinks that in spite of dire predictions by opponents, the ordinance is adjusting labor and legal standards to an evolving society. “It more or less just expands the path of civil rights we’ve been on for decades,” he added.

Opposition to the bill came primarily from two conservative assemblymembers, Amy Demboski, and Bill Starr, both of who say it infringes on residents’ religious and speech rights.

Both gave impassioned testimony on amendments dealing with issues like gender-segregated bathrooms, government process, and a contentious mechanism for what are called “ministerial exemptions.” In the end, the assembly voted to use the Hosanna-Tabor precedent in the Supreme Court to measure where religious institutions are protected in hiring decisions.

The room was filled with opponents to the measure wearing red shirts, mobilized by a coalition of faith groups. Demboski and others believe that Anchorage voters made their will clear in a 2012 ballot measure and expects a similar initiative will bring the matter back to a referendum vote this coming April.

“This is absolutely the tyranny of the liberal assembly,” Demboski said in a brief interview after the meeting. “I don’t think the majority of Alaskans will agree with that policy.”

But others disagree that the past vote amounts to a mandate. During the discussion, assemblymember Patrick Flynn pointed out that when it comes to civil rights there is a long American tradition of the Legislative branch expanding legal protections in advance of popular opinion.

Many members of the LGBTQ community were relieved by passage of the ordinance, saying it recognizes a problem they’ve struggled for years to get the municipality to simply recognize.

“I feel like a weight has been removed because as a transgender man I haven’t been protected,” said Drew Phoenix with the advocacy group Identity. “When I go into a restaurant, when I go into the locker-room, when I apply for a job or a rental–I can be denied, and have been.”

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz applauded the decision after the measure passed by a veto-proof 9-to-2 vote.

The ordinance is expected to be officially signed by the end of the week.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications