by E. Ross

Dave Bronson, a prominent member of the anti-LGBTQ organization Alaska Family Council, is challenging incumbent Elvi Gray-Jackson for her seat on the Anchorage Assembly.

You won’t believe who is running for the Anchorage Assembly!

I can hardly think of a more inappropriate person to put on the assembly. This candidate threatened a sitting Assembly Chair in a public letter. He blamed her for the destruction of Anchorage that would certainly happen if she allowed the equal rights ordinance of 2009 to pass the assembly with a veto-proof majority. He insisted that she would be known forever as a traitor if she voted for the ordinance, and promised that her career would be over. His doomsday letter used anti-gay prejudice to whip up fear and divide the assembly.

Believe it or not, Assemblymember Elvi Gray-Jackson, Pride Marshall 2010 and a champion of the equal rights ordinance, will defend her assembly seat this year against none other than Dave Bronson, board chair of the anti-gay lobby group Alaska Family Council and long time member of the Anchorage Baptist Temple.

Below: Dave Bronson (left) of the Alaska Family Council at the 6th evening of public testimony on the Anchorage equal rights ordinance, AO 2009-64.

Here’s a quote from Bronson’s open letter to Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander during the summer 2009 effort to pass an equal rights ordinance:

Madam Chair, when Catholic Social Services (CSS) and Latter Day Saints Social Services cease operations because their faith compels them to adopt children to heterosexual couples only… you, personally, will be to blame. When religious schools close their doors because in obedience to their faith they simply cannot allow practicing homosexuals or transsexuals to teach their children… you, personally, will be to blame. I wonder why you think Anchorage is now such an evil city that it must undergo such a radical transformation just to assuage your guilt that someone you may know and care about is being treated terribly by someone who is simply exercising their right to be ignorant. Mind you, your ignorance, demonstrated by a vote for AO 64 will be far more harmful to many more individuals that you can imagine… and you, personally, will be to blame. Whether you intend these catastrophic consequences to happen or not is simply meaningless. The language in AO 64 is clear and it will cause exactly what I have articulated.

[Note: Debbie Ossiander was one of the minority on the Assembly who voted against passage of the ordinance.  It’s not known whether Bronson’s letter had any bearing on her decision to vote against equal rights for LGBT citizens.]

Bronson also used his influence with Mayor Sullivan to get himself appointed to a school board commission. On his resume for the job, he listed his experience as an anti-gay activist with a group called Repeal the Homosexual Ordinance.

The resume Bronson submitted for the position is no longer available on the Municipality of Anchorage website. However, a post at The Mudflats lists the “qualifications” he presented in his resume:

• Member of the Anchorage Baptist Temple since 1992
• Founding board member and current Chairman of the Board of the Alaska Family Council
• Volunteer Coordinator for the Repeal of the Homosexual Ordinance, Municipality of Anchorage 1994
• Officer District 30, Republican Party of Alaska
• Leader AWANA Children’s Bible Ministry
• With Alaska Family Council helped lead the effort against MOA O-64 [the 2009 Anchorage equal rights ordinance]
• With Alaska Family Action, helped lead Alaskans for Parental Rights parental notification petition drive

The Mudflats also pointed out another of Bronson’s achievements:

An Alaskan Standard article comparing Obama to Hitler (complete with picture of Hitler, misspelling of “Barak” Obama, the opinion of his Nazi friend at a dinner party, and millions lying dead)

The people of Anchorage contacted our assembly members and expressed our concerns, and the Assembly voted down his appointment. Sullivan withdrew Bronson’s nomination because he heard he’d get voted down. [correction per Assemblywoman Drummond’s comment below.]

A man who has a grudge against the Assembly and publicly threatened an Assembly chair thinks he should be elected to the Assembly! One can only guess the damage he would do if elected.

Bronson wants to force his far right religious agenda on the city of Anchorage, and he’s willing to tear apart the assembly to do that. It would be like electing Prevo himself. The choice could hardly be more clear.

Assemblymember Gray-Jackson is well known and respected in her district and should mop up the floor with a controversial extremist like Bronson. But we can’t leave this election to chance.

Please share this information with your friends in Anchorage, volunteer to help re-elect Elvi and make a donation towards her campaign. Visit the website of Assemblymember Elvi Gray-Jackson.

Other assembly allies Mike Gutierrez and Harriet Drummond are also up for re-election and are being challenged by anti-gay candidates. Please support the re-election of Assemblymembers Drummond and Gutierrez.