Transgender Victory in Anchorage! Bathroom bill Prop 1 defeated!
On Friday Fair Anchorage declared victory as votes were tallied indicating a defeat of Prop 1, a measure which would have removed transgender protections as passed by the city council in 2015. The problematic vote on a minorities rights was put into action when 6,200 people signed a petition allowing public opinion to decide on our right to exist.
If Prop one had passed transgender people in Alaska’s largest city would have been denied access to bathrooms and locker rooms in city-owned buildings and would have allowed privately owned properties to legally do the same.
The “No” campaign raised more than $824,000, compared to the $128,000 its opponent raised, according to Alaska Public Media. The campaigns battled for voters through a series of heated advertisements. They also waged a fierce battle in the streets as volunteers from both groups raced to canvass voters in the city of nearly 300,000 according to NBC news.
The main proponent of Prop 1, the Family Policy Alliance of Colorado Springs, CO works under the umbrella of the Alliance Defending Freedom identified as a Hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center conducted a campaign instilling fear and promoting distrust and hate.
That snake oil didn’t work in the second largest state and now the largest state in the union.
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick had to go out of state for a known hate groups support of his bathroom bill and so did the Family Policy Alliance who ran a video campaign featuring a Minnesota woman in a failed ploy to instill fear of transgender people.
The vote was conducted by mail-in ballots so the results won’t be officially certified by the city until Friday, But with 100% of the districts accounted for with over 52% voting against discrimination Fair Anchorage is celebrating:
VICTORY: Anchorage Voters Defeat Proposition 1!
Anchorage voters have defeated Proposition 1—the dangerous initiative that sought to repeal basic protections for our transgender neighbors, family and friends under municipal law.
With 76K+ votes in, our NO campaign is leading by 52.7%, with only 47.3% voting Yes. So while the municipality will not certify the election results until next Friday, we are confident that, at this point, it would be impossible for Prop 1 to pass.
Throughout our campaign, we were able to consistently amplify the stories and lived experiences of transgender people. Two members of our campaign leadership Denise Sudbeck and Lillian Lennon, both shared their stories of overcoming adversity to help shepherd our campaign to success. We heard from a variety of people, from activist MoHagani Magnetek to Samuel Ohana, who was discriminated against at his job. One of our most effective messengers, high school student Col Lockard, bravely appeared in one of our television ads, telling Anchorage his fears and concerns about Prop 1 becoming law. In addition, we saw a moving piece from Andrea Redeker, a local transgender woman who canvassed in the final days to defeat Proposition 1.
To every transgender person who shared your story and spoke out against Proposition 1: This is your victory. Thank you for your courage and bravery.
Kelli Busey an outspoken gonzo style journalist has been writing since 2007. In 2008, she brought the Dallas Advocate on-line and has articles published by the Reconciling Ministries Network, The Transsexual Menace, The Daily Kos, Frock Magazine the TransAdvocate, the Dallas Voice and The Advocate. Kelli, an avid runner is editor in chief at Planet Transgender which she founded in 2007.
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