State laws, senator support, UA policies and new campaigns: Alaskans Together has been busy! Their spring newsletter updates us on the recent successes they contributed to and their current efforts, including the Why Marriage Matters project. Here’s the message from Board President Elias Rojas:

Your statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization – Alaskans Together for Equality Inc. — has been hard at work the last several months promoting civil equality throughout the state. It has definitely been a whirlwind of LGBT initiatives in Alaska and across the country over the last several months.

The highlights of our successful involvement and support of ATE over the last several months include:

• The repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law with both Sen. Murkowski and Sen. Begich voting in favor of the repeal.
• The University of Alaska Regents passing a non-discrimination policy change that now includes sexual orientation as a protected class.
• The introduction of the Alaska Hate Crimes bill (SB 11 – Davis) and its successful passage through the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• The introduction of a statewide non-discrimination bill (HB 165 – Kerttula) that would add sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes in our existing state non-discrimination laws.

The last few months have been great in terms of progress towards civil equality for LGBT Alaskans. In addition, ATE is at the tail end of a very successful membership drive and renewal campaign. Your membership keeps us going. If you have yet to become an ATE member for 2011 you can still do so by clicking here. For those of you who became members…thank you…thank you…thank you.

All these successes and continuing efforts could not have been done without your activism and financial support. Our board thanks you for all your support.

ATE is looking forward to continuing to provide you with the latest news and updates that can help you be informed and active in your community and state. As always, if you have any suggestions or would like to get involved please email us at alaskanstogether@gmail.com.

Recently, the ATE board voted to become a partner of the Freedom to Marry national campaign in support of marriage, called “Why Marriage Matters.” It’s a public education campaign that will talk about our rights and tell the story of why gays and lesbians want to get married – to share love and commitment with the person they love. Stay tuned and visit Alaskans Together as we begin rolling out this campaign in the coming months.

Check out Freedom to Marry, and watch the intro clip on Why Marriage Matters: