Articles tagged with: Anchorage equal rights ordinance AO-64 (2009)
Does Anyone Beat Your Heart for You
I spoke this poem today at the Community Building for Alaska workshop sponsored by the Alaska Community Foundation & Alaska Pacific University, after a morning’s discussion. It’s not possible to walk together in community as anyone other than who we are, carrying our own minds, hearts, souls.
This one for you, James Crump
James Crump came to Alaska to find himself, and stayed in Alaska to share himself with us. His death on June 25 at Anchorage’s Pride parade was a blow not only to his family & friends, but also to our whole community. But just what is our community — and where do we go from here?
Vasquez may respect your ‘lifestyle’ but not your rights
West Anchorage assembly candidate Liz Vasquez was asked at the UAA forum if she supports an LGBT non-discrimination law, and she gave an awkward reply about the Supreme Court, lifestyles, and hate crimes against religious minorities. Here is her complete answer: (transcript is below the video)
Q. Would you support an equal right ordinance extending equal protections to gay, lesbian and transgender persons in Alaska’s workforce, similar to the proposition Mayor Sullivan vetoed in 2009?
A. “Well, first of all, a question like this should be decided by the state supreme court or the United States Supreme Court. There’s an extensive analysis that is done in extended [sic] protected class to any given group and indeed part of the analysis, what socio-economic factors have been of hinderance to this particular group, and the recent Department of Justice, United States Department of Justice studies indicate that 80% of the hate crime is committed against individuals of the Jewish faith, 10% is committed against those individuals of the Muslim faith. So the assembly really is not the forum to consider this very serious issue. I do believe sincerely that people need to respect each others’ lifestyle, as long as people are not hurting other people.”
Wow. Let’s take it apart:
“Well, first of all, a question like this should be decided by the state supreme court or the United States Supreme Court.”
This is a shocking statement coming from a conservative. Alaskans don’t want the federal government telling us what to do about polar bears, health care or education, but somehow we need big government to interfere in the daily lives of our workers and local businesses. Never thought I’d hear a conservative say that.
Look, it’s simple: The Anchorage Assembly doesn’t need permission from the U.S. Supreme Court to make city laws protecting city residents. It doesn’t work that way.
“There’s an extensive analysis that is done in extended [sic] protected class to any given group and indeed part of the analysis, what socio-economic factors have been of hinderance to this particular group, and the recent Department of Justice, United States Department of Justice studies indicate that 80% of the hate crime is committed against individuals of the Jewish faith, 10% is committed against those individuals of the Muslim faith.”
First of all – WTF?? 80% of American hate crimes are not against Jewish people. I’d guess that around half of the hate crimes in America are based on racial prejudice, and that the other half are about equally divided between hate crimes based on anti-LGBT bias and those based on bias against religious minorities. Turns out that I’m (mostly) right. (Thanks to Alaska Commons for the DOJ link, and the audio clip.)
In truth, slightly less than 14% of hate crimes are targeted against Americans because they’re Jewish – a serious problem, but not Nazi Germany.
We’ve cleared up that lie, but the main point here is that she (mis)quoted hate crime statistics against religious groups when asked about protecting workers from being fired for being gay. Either she doesn’t know the difference between job discrimination and being beaten up, or that was her convoluted way of saying that prejudice against religious minorities is important but prejudice against gays isn’t.
“So the assembly really is not the forum to consider this very serious issue.”
The Assembly is exactly the right place to have an Anchorage discussion about protecting Anchorage workers. It’s hard to believe that a candidate running for the assembly would say that the assembly should not consider serious issues.
“I do believe sincerely that people need to respect each others’ lifestyle, as long as people are not hurting other people.”
Ow. This sentence hurts my brain. It’s a people word salad. All she needs is a “you betcha” at the end.
The West Anchorage candidates for assembly are worlds apart on LGBT issues: ally and incumbent Harriet Drummond voted for the non-discrimination ordinance in 2009 and will continue to support equality. Liz won’t.
Please vote for Assemblywoman Harriet Drummond for the West Anchorage assembly seat.
Anchorage election: Assembly and school board candidates to vote for
Anchorage voters going to the polls Tuesday will see pro-equality assembly members up for re-election in 4 districts, a supportive challenger, and 2 good school board candidates on the ballot, running against a slate of anti-gay candidates endorsed by Mayor Sullivan. Here are Bent Alaska’s recommendations.
Help LGBT ally John Aronno go to Netroots Nation!
I was delighted to learn that John Aronno of Alaska Commons — a Bent Alaska contributor — had applied for the scholarship for Netroots Nation 2011; & I’m even more delighted to support his candidacy, both as a progressive blogger per se, and as a tremendous ally to LGBT Alaskans. Please vote for him!
Are you LGBT? Have you lived, worked, spent time in Anchorage? We need your help.
“My review shows that there is clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance.” That’s what Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan stated on August 17, 2009 when he vetoed Anchorage Ordinance 2009-64, the Anchorage equal rights ordinance, which had been passed the previous week by a vote of 7 to 4 by the Anchorage Assembly. If you are an LGBT person who lives, works, or spends time in Anchorage — or if you’ve lived/worked/spent time in Anchorage in the past — please complete the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey.
Assembly ally challenged by doomsday letter writer
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.
Lisa snubs Pride Conference, honors Prevo instead
While U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams was impressing us and our allies at the Alaska Pride Conference last weekend, write-in incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski ignored the invitation to speak to LGBT Alaskans and instead was at Anchorage Baptist Temple kissing up to Rev. Jerry Prevo, a man who brags that his personal legacy has been to prevent gay Alaskans from getting equal rights.
Watch Lisa thank Jerry for the love and guidance he has shown “our community,” by which she means the homo-haters of Anchorage, apparently:
The video of Lisa and Jerry is courtesy of Alaska Commons, and the transcript was posted on Mudflats (the highlighting is mine):
Pastor Prevo, Mrs. Prevo, it is such an honor and a real delight to be with so many here today to celebrate this pastoral anniversary. Think about where you were in 1971. What was going on in your life. Well, here in Alaska… Everyone’s now starting to talk… think about what was going on in 1971… We just passed the Alaska Land Claims Settlement Act that led to the development of our Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Think about how our state has transformed with the advent of that line and what oil has brought to our country, our state.
That was the same time that Pastor Prevo and Mrs. Prevo came to Anchorage and began to build this community – 135,000 people in Anchorage at that time, and think about the changes that we have seen within our community, within our state. And so much of what we’ve seen that has been good and strong has been built right here at the Anchorage Baptist Temple by Reverend Prevo. Think about the ministries. We saw the children’s ministry here today and the delight in the children’s faces. The ministries for the men, the women’s connection, the recovery ministries – so many of the good things – the Anchorage Christian Schools, so much that has been developed under the leadership of this man, with the love and support of Carol Prevo. This leadership is demonstrated on a daily basis and we benefit from it.
And Pastor, I want to thank you from a very personal note for what you did to celebrate the life of a great Alaskan. It was here in this church that Alaskans and people around the country paid tribute to a great Alaskan, Ted Stevens. And what you did, and your guidance and how we showed our final respects was a tribute to all of Alaska. That leadership doesn’t come without the greatness of a man. We thank you for what you have given our community – the guidance you have shown, and the love for so many. Continue it for another 39. Thank you.
WTF? Here is one example of Prevo’s love for us. It’s part 2 of his sermon against last summer’s equal rights ordinance (in case you missed it) and includes a long list of insults for LGBT Alaskans:
Can’t you feel the love? Prevo’s only legacy is peddling fear and hate of LGBT people and preventing Anchorage from becoming a city of equality and fairness.
What is Lisa thinking?
Announcing the Alaska LGBT Community Survey
Crossposted from alaskacommunity.org.
Identity Reports (1989) and One in 10 (1986)In the 1980s, the nonprofit organization Identity, Inc. conducted two major research efforts to profile Alaska’s lesbian/gay/bisexual community and to document sexual orientation bias in Alaska.
One in Ten: A Profile of Alaska’s Lesbian & Gay Community (1986) provided the first statewide portrait of Alaska’s lesbian and gay (and to some extent bisexual) population, describing our experiences of coming out, of discrimination, our physical and emotional health, religious and political affiliations, demographic characteristics, and a general needs assessment. Identity Reports: Sexual Orientation Bias in Alaska(1989) focused on discrimination and bias, documenting 84 actual instances of antigay bias, discrimination, harassment, or violence (including three murders) around the state, as well as the positive willingness of 20% of landlords and 31% of employers in the Anchorage area to discriminate against persons who were — or were perceived to be — gay or lesbian.
A lot has changed in the two-and-a-half decades since. There’s a lot more live-and-let-live, a lot more acceptance of lesbians and gays. Yet the continuing legacy of antigay prejudice and discrimination persists. Arguably, prejudice against transfolk is even more virulent — often even within our own community.
One of the chief arguments used by opponents of last year’s Anchorage Ordinance 64 — which would have added sexual orientation and gender identityto the Municipality of Anchorage’s equal rights code — was that there was no evidence of discrimination against LGBT people. This claim was made in spite of the weight of evidence provided in One in Ten and Identity Reports. But of course, that evidence was two decades old, so ordinance opponents found it easy to ignore; and they found it just as easy to close their ears to the public testimony of Anchorage LGBT residents who stepped forward to testify to very recent experiences of discrimination and bias — even as one opponent openly told the Assembly that he’d once beaten a gay man so badly that he put him in the hospital.
And so — we’ve decided to bring One in Ten up-to-date by conducting a new statewide survey — the Alaska LGBT Community Survey. Like its predecessor, the Alaska LGBT Community Survey aims to create a profile of our community in all its diversity and with all its diverse concerns; and as we did in 1985-86, we’ll use the survey as vehicle to solicit case histories to document our community’s continuing experiences with discrimination, harassment, and violence. Unlike One in Ten, the Alaska LGBT Community Survey will include transfolk as well as gay, lesbian, and bisexual folk, in the design of the survey questionnaire as well as in filling it out.
We’re in a very early stage right now. We just made the firm commitment to do this last week! But we wanted to tell you about it right away.
We aim to have at least initial results of our survey by April 2011. For more and continuing information as we go along:
- subscribe to our blog at alaskacommunity.org;
- “like” our Facebook page;
- follow @alaskacommunity on Twitter; or
- do all three!
We’ll also doing our best to keep you updated through our regular LGBT news channels such as Bent Alaska, TransAlaska Pipeline, Grrlzlist, the Alaska GLBT News maillist, and — well, yeah, my own blog, Henkimaa.
Stay tuned!
— Melissa S. (Mel) Green
One year after the Assembly passed Ordinance 64
Shelby Carpenter, the ACLU of Alaska’s LGBT director, wrote a guest editorial “Discrimination puts all Alaskans at risk” in this week’s Anchorage Press. She looks at the effects of Mayor Sullivan’s veto of the equal rights ordinance passed by the Assembly on August 11 one year ago, and looks ahead to the ACLU’s tax discrimination case. She concludes:
“In an age when gay couples are constantly in the media, when we watch “Will and Grace” on TV and see “Brokeback Mountain” in the movie theatre, it can be easy to forget that lesbian, gay, and transgender equality is about livelihoods rather than lifestyles. Because of discrimination, gay and transgender Alaskans suffer economically. Supporting equal rights is as simple as supporting the right of all Alaskans to earn a living and provide for their families.
“In this economy, no one should lose a job for reasons that have nothing to do with their job performance. We know that Anchorage is better than this.
“Alaska’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community and allies encourage the Anchorage Assembly to act once more to make the fair treatment of all Alaskans the law. As a community we can and must move forward.”
Read the full editorial HERE.
