Anchorage passes gay ordinance

The Anchorage city council voted to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Public Outcry Kills Anchorage Gay Protections

An Anchorage, Alaska gay protections bill is likely doomed as public sentiment turns sour, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Hundreds of opponents appeared to testify against the bill at a Wednesday Anchorage Assembly hearing on the issue.

The bill would protect gay men and lesbians from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing and credit. An original draft included transgendered persons, but lawmakers cut out the provision amid loud protest.

Opponents’ demands have resulted in three drafts of the ordinance, including one that turns the protections on their head. That version would allow discrimination based on sexual orientation, while protecting other classes.

“The added language in the third version guts the intent and the integrity of the ordinance,” said Jackie Buckley, spokeswoman for EqualityWorks, the group that lobbied for the gay protections.

But time is ticking as a new, unsympathetic mayor is about to be installed on July 1, Republican Mayor-elect Dan Sullivan. Sullivan, however, gains veto power over all ordinances seven days prior, on Wednesday.

As people continued to pile in to testify against the bill – nearly 600 people have signed up and only 300 have been heard – Anchorage Assembly Chairwoman Debbie Ossiander said Friday she will continue to allow testimony. The extension is likely to make it impossible to approve the bill before Sullivan gains veto control. Acting Mayor Matt Claman, a Democrat, supports the measure.

See Public Outcry Kills Anchorage Gay Protections On Top Magazine

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Hundreds still scheduled to speak on gay rights amendment

A controversial amendment to an anti-discrimination ordinance is still up for discussion after the Anchorage Assembly didn’t get through all the public testimony Tuesday night.
The proposed law would make it illegal to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation.
The assembly has already scheduled a special meeting for next Tuesday, June 16 to hear everyone who has signed up to speak about the ordinance.
More than 250 people remain on the waiting list to speak, which means another meeting might have to be scheduled to discuss this one ordinance.
Assembly Chair Debbie Ossiander, who represents Eagle River and Chugiak tried to begin the Tuesday meeting on a positive note. See Hundreds still scheduled to speak on gay rights amendment
KTUU

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Dallas pastor to join team lobbying Congress for gay rights

The Rev. Jo Hudson of Dallas’ Cathedral of Hope will be part of a high-profile team of pastors visiting Congress to lobby for gay rights. Details below:

This is a critical time for the LGBT movement. Today, the U.S. House is marking-up the federal hate crimes bill, an important step before the bill moves to a vote. Federal legislation is necessary to ensure all citizens are safe from hate violence. Only 11 states and the District of Columbia have hate crimes laws that cover both sexual orientation and gender identity. Twenty states have hate crimes laws that cover sexual orientation but not gender identity.

The Clergy Call for Justice and Equality is organized by the HRC Foundation’s Religion & Faith Program, lead by Harry Knox, who was recently appointed by President Barack Obama to the Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. To check out this year’s program visit: www.HRC.org/ClergyCall.

Confirmed speakers: Read their bios: http://www.hrc.org/issues/religion/12294.htm

The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, NH
Bishop Yvette Flunder, San Francisco, CA
Rev. John H. Thomas , Cleveland, OH
Rev. Dr. Anthony Campolo, St. Davids, PA
Father Richard Estrada, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. Jo Hudson, Dallas, TX
Rabbi Steven Jacobs, Los Angeles, CA
Rev. Dr. Cynthia Love, Abilene, TX
Rev. Manish Mishra, St. Petersburg, FL
Rev. Drew Phoenix, Anchorage, AK
Bishop Tonyia Rawls, Charlotte, NC
Joe Solmonese, Washington, DC
Rev. Dr. Traci C. West, Madison, NJ

Updates in the movement of faith and LGBT equality:

The unanimous ruling of the seven-member Iowa Supreme Court, written by Mark Cady, a Republican appointee, explained that a state’s legalization of same-sex marriage has no effect on marriage as practiced by religions. “The only difference,” the judge wrote, is that “civil marriage will now take on a new meaning that reflects a more complete understanding of equal protection of the law.
The McCain-Palin 2008 campaign strategist, Steve Schmidt, urged his party last week to join him in endorsing same-sex marriage.
Jon Huntsman Jr., the governor of Utah, who in February endorsed civil unions for gay couples, a position seemingly indistinguishable from Obama’s. Huntsman is a Mormon presiding over what Gallup ranks as the reddest state in the country.
Rev. Rick Warren, the hugely popular megachurch leader who endorsed Proposition 8, California’s same-sex marriage ban, dropped in on Larry King to declare that he had “never” been and “never will be” an “anti-gay-marriage activist.” But, it apparently didn’t thrill his base and he cancelled on ABC’s George Stephanolopous, minutes before taking to the air on the nationally televised “This Week.” Warren’s sudden reverse remains controversial in the LGBT community: http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/10284/rick-warren-lies-about-his-homobigotry-on-larry-king-live
Faith leaders are building momentum and making clear that they support full equality for LGBT people under the law. America’s clergy are transforming our nation one congregation at a time and making it easier for Members of Congress to stand for equality. The theme for Clergy Call 2009, “Moving from Acceptance to Advocacy,” reflects the vision of a faith-based movement for LGBT equality built from the ground up: in local churches, synagogues, mosques.

See Dallas pastor to join team lobbying Congress for gay rights

Dallas Morning News

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Alaska legislature rejects Palin homophobic AG pick

(Juneau, Alaska) The Alaska Legislature on Thursday rejected Gov. Sarah Palin’s nominee for state attorney general, the latest of several clashes between lawmakers and the governor since she became a national figure as the GOP’s vice presidential nominee last year.

Nine Republicans and 26 Democrats rejected Anchorage attorney Wayne Anthony Ross …

Alaska’s new senator sees change at work

ANCHORAGE — To get elected in Alaska to the United States Senate as a Democrat sometimes requires not acting like one. Talk up drilling for oil in wildlife refuges. Talk up gun rights. Insist that those liberals who control Congress will never push you around.

And when your Republican rival is convicted in federal court shortly before Election Day, do not gloat. He is, after all, Senator Ted Stevens, once decreed by the State Legislature as Alaskan of the Century.

Of course, that was last century.

Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage is the Democrat who last month pulled off what once seemed unimaginable, becoming only the second Democrat from Alaska to win a seat in Washington since his father was a member of the House of Representatives nearly four decades ago.

Mr. Begich’s seat in the Senate has been occupied by Mr. Stevens since Mr. Begich was 6 years old and the state of Alaska was just 9. But Mr. Begich, 46, suggests there is something larger at work in his victory than just good timing in taking on a suddenly vulnerable Mr. Stevens, who was convicted in October of failing to disclose gifts and home renovations he received from a wealthy oil services industry executive.

“We’re a much more mature state in many ways,” Mr. Begich told reporters a day after he declared victory.

See Alaska’s new senator sees change at work
New York Times