Anchorage Mayor Vetoes Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

The city's Assembly approved it; the local newspaper applauded it; GLBT residents testified as to its need. But newly elected Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed it, killing an anti-discrimination bill.

The Assembly has only three weeks to try to pass the proposed ordinance despite the mayor's veto, but lacks one critical vote to carry the measure into law, reported the Anchorage Daily News in an Aug. 17 article.

The newspaper article noted that this is just the latest in a three-decade struggle to extend equality under the law to Anchorage GLBTs. A similar measure was approved by the Assembly twice in two consecutive years, 1975 and 1976, only for then-Mayor George Sullivan, the father of the current mayor, to veto it. Both times, the Assembly attempted, without success, to institute the ordinance anyway.

Then, in 1993, a similar pattern took place, with the Assembly approving a measure to protect gay and lesbian city employees. Then-Mayor Tom Fink vetoed the legislation, but was overridden; at that point, a repeal effort was launched, but was turned back by the courts.

However, five months after its approval, the ordinance was repealed by a newly elected Assembly.

In the current round, the Assembly passed the measure with seven votes, but would need one more vote to override Dan Sullivan's veto.

That's not likely to happen, the article said, citing Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander, who expressed support for GLBT equality, but said that she could not support the measure as written. Among her reservations was concern as to how the measure would affect Anchorage businesses; the article cited a fear that businesses would be required to provide gender-neutral restrooms.

"I believe I made the correct vote," Ossiander was quoted as saying in the article.

Continued the chairwoman, "Parts of this ordinance, I feel, were wrong."

The mayor of Anchorage denied that there was a problem to begin with.

In a written statement, Mayor Dan Sullivan declared, "My review shows that there is clearly a lack of quantifiable evidence necessitating this ordinance."

The mayor went on to note that the thousand of messages he had received on the issue were largely negative.

"My review also shows that the vast majority of those who communicated their position ... are in opposition," the statement continued.

"As elected officials, we are charged with reflecting the will of the community in our decisions, particularly in the absence of compelling data that would supersede that will," Sullivan went on.

Jackie Buckley of the pro-GLBT equality group Equality Works was quoted as saying, "This was an opportunity.

"It was good for business, so Anchorage could attract and retain the best employees and customers.

This is a giant step backwards by the mayor, not seeing that," Buckley added.

"Civil rights are not a popularity contest," Buckley went on.

"This is not the sort of thing (where) you can say, 'I've had 500 phone calls, so this is a bad idea.'"

Anti-gay Baptist pastor Jerry Prevo has fought against GLBT equality since the first attempts by the Assembly to provide for gay and lesbian residents, the article said, and he expressed approval that Dan Sullivan had followed in his father's footsteps in vetoing the measure.

Prevo was quoted in the article as saying, "I am happy to see that the mayor realizes that the majority of the people of Anchorage do not feel that this is a necessary ordinance, which it is not."

Added Prevo, "He felt like the people elected him and that he ought to push the will of the people rather than any personal agenda that he might have."

Anti-gay activists whipped up opposition to the new measure, in part with a Web site that purported to warn of dire consequences should the "gay agenda" gain a toehold in Anchorage. As pro-equality Web site Alaska Commons reported, anti-gay myths flew thick and fast: "Children will not be safe, bathrooms will be lawfully turned into transvestite hangouts, small businesses will shut their doors, and the religious community will be victimized for their differing ideology."

But the stories told by those stepped forward to give their testimony to the Assembly convinced others of exactly the opposite: the article said that in all, over 20 hours of testimony was heard by the Assembly. Much of it came from those opposed to GLBT equality before the law, but enough was heard from GLBT Alaskans that some on the Assembly were convinced of a need for laws to protect them.

The article quoted Assembly member Patrick Flynn, who wrote the proposed ordinance. "I'm disappointed, primarily for the several thousand Anchorage residents who are disenfranchised by his decision."

Added fellow Assembly members Matt Claman, "compelling evidence [was provided] from many people who came and testified that they had been discriminated against."

But Claman also defended the right of the measure's opponents to speak their minds, saying, "Somebody observed that the opponents of the ordinance had essentially engaged in what you could call a public filibuster," effectively delaying the measure long enough for Dan Sullivan to become mayor and veto it.

However, added Claman, "I think the right to do that is protected under the charter."

Whether the "will of the people" is indeed followed when GLBT equality is derailed, and whether civil rights ought to be a matter for popular decision, are issues that continue to roil the debate around gay and lesbian rights.

But one community voice applauded the Assembly for its decision: the local newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News, praised the passage of the bill in an Aug. 12 op-ed.

Noted the newspaper, "By voting 7 to 4 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, with an exemption for religious organizations, the Assembly struck a reasonable balance between conflicting values.

"The non-discrimination ordinance recognizes the common humanity of our gay and lesbian friends and neighbors," the op-ed continued.

"As long as they are law-abiding citizens, they're entitled to live their lives free from any form of legally-sanctioned persecution."