March 31, 2012

Raucous Gay-Rights Push in Alaska
By Jim Carlton
Updated April 1, 2012, 8:08 p.m. ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Alaska is one of 12 states nationwide where neither the state nor any of its municipalities bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. That may change Tuesday—after a rancorous debate—as such a law heads to a vote here in Alaska’s largest city.  More →

http://www.bentalaska.com/2012/03/a-child-of-abt/

Posted on Friday, 30 March 2012 by Bent Alaska

by RJ Haywood

RJ Haywood was raised in the Anchorage Baptist Temple, where he once underwent their attempt to exorcise “the demon of homosexuality” from him. He survived and now lives happily as a gay man in Anchorage, with a message for Anchorage voters: Yes on 5.  More →

March 30, 2012

Proposition 5 backers raise more money than opponents
By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS
(03/30/12 17:50:27)

Campaign reports filed this week show supporters of Proposition 5, a ballot measure to extend anti-discrimination protections to gay, lesbian and transgender people in Anchorage, are raising far more campaign money than their opponents. The proposition is on the municipal election ballot to be voted on Tuesday, April 3.  More →

March 29, 2012

OldTimer42 8 comments collapsed

Collapse Expand To Joylynnkim-

You stated, “I feel the same way about people who wear their sexuality on their shirt tails for the whole world to see. What purpose does it serve.” I hold my wife’s hand in public… what purpose does that serve? It makes me feel good and I think she likes it too.  More →

March 27, 2012

To:
Jim Minnery
Dr. Jerry Prevo, Glenn Clary – Anchorage Baptist Temple
Anchorage TV & Radio Broadcast Stations

From:
Governor Tony Knowles, Co-Sponsor
Senator Arliss Sturgulewski, Co Sponsor
Trevor Storrs, Chair
Amy Coffman, Campaign Manager
Yes on Proposition 5, One Anchorage Campaign  More →

March 23, 2012

By Daysha Eaton, KSKA – Anchorage

The final report on discrimination experienced by Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people in Anchorage is set to be released Thursday.

It’s called the Anchorage LGBT discrimination survey. The preliminary version of the report was released late last year. The new version includes more detailed information. Mel Green is the principal investigator and author of the report.

“There are going to be lots more detailed tables that show where those charts that were in the preliminary came from. There’s also going to be a very complete methodology – complete demographic data for our survey population, some of it’s going to be compared with census data, national survey, previous Alaska research,” Green said.

The survey was conducted between January and March of 2011 and includes information from 268 LGBT people in Anchorage. It asked questions about their experience of discrimination, violence or intimidation in the municipality during their lifetime. Roughly 70 percent said they’d experienced some form of discrimination in Anchorage. Comments from respondents will be included in the final survey.

“This is a very short one from a gay male respondent. I was dancing at a local bar with a male friend of mine and one of my previous employers spotted me, the very next morning he told my manager to fire me,” Green said.

The survey is the first research on LGB people in Anchorage since the 80′s and the first which includes transgender people. Green says information released in the final report shows her findings are comparable with national numbers.

“The levels of experienced discrimination that we’re reporting are not at all unusual, it’s national and its particularly high for transgender people,” Green said.

The Anchorage LGBT discrimination survey was funded in part by the ACLU of Alaska. The survey is available at alaskacommunity.org.

http://www.alaskapublic.org/2012/03/22/anchorage-lgbt-discrimination-survey-results-released/

and audio link on KSKA website

March 22, 2012

Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Final Report by Melissa S. Green was released today by the Anchorage-based nonprofit Identity on behalf of the Alaska LGBT Community Survey Task Force. The Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey was conducted in the Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska, from January through March 2011, with 268 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) respondents included in the final dataset.  More →

March 21, 2012

Elsie Potkotak, Anchorage Daily News, March 20, 2012
I grew up in a world of “confirmed bachelors” and “spinsters.” While some of those people might truly have been no more nor less than that, for many those titles were the closet in which they hid their true identity from the world. They had to hide. They were gay. They were gay at a time when openly expressing their love to their partner could land them a jail sentence or cause them to lose their job or housing.  More →

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-alaska-gay-rights-20120321,0,1198035.story
For 35 years — since Anchorage was a city, really — there have been attempts to pass an ordinance banning discrimination against gays and lesbians. Several times, such measures have been on the brink of adoption, only to be repealed or vetoed at the last minute as Alaska’s ardent conservative Christian community cranked into gear.

But antidiscrimination advocates say a new initiative on the April 3 municipal ballot — gaining almost more attention in Alaska these days than the U.S. presidential race — has won unprecedented support from faith leaders, including the Episcopal bishop and some 50 other churches and religious groups.  More →