In its first public listening to, a invoice to ban discrimination in opposition to LGBTQ folks in Alaska drew overwhelming assist.
In over 90 minutes of public testimony on Monday, solely two out of round 40 testifiers spoke in opposition to a invoice that will ban discrimination based mostly on sexual orientation and gender. The remainder — lots of them members of the LGBTQ neighborhood — supported the measure, saying it will permit LGBTQ to folks to really feel safer in Alaska.
“Equality doesn’t harm anyone. It’s not pie. We’re not going to expire,” Amber O’Brien, a Wasilla resident whose daughter is queer, advised the Home Labor and Commerce Committee.
The invoice was launched by Rep. Jennie Armstrong, D-Anchorage, a number of days after the Every day Information and ProPublica reported that the state’s coverage banning discrimination in opposition to LGBTQ folks in most areas was quietly dropped final yr on recommendation from Legal professional Normal Treg Taylor.
The invoice’s supporters say they’ve been engaged on these efforts for months, and comparable payments have been launched unsuccessfully for a decade.
The Home Labor and Commerce Committee is the primary of three committees that should advance Home Invoice 99 earlier than it will possibly attain a vote by your entire chamber. Some testifiers acknowledged that conservative Republicans who’re members of the Home majority have voted in opposition to comparable measures previously.
However supporters this yr, together with Deliberate Parenthood and the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, mentioned they hoped the invoice would acquire extra traction this session amid actions from Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy that members of the LGBTQ neighborhood say will make them much less secure. That features the governor’s proposed “parental rights” invoice that will require gender-nonconforming kids use bogs in response to their intercourse assigned at start, and get parental sign-off earlier than altering the pronouns they use at school.
Through the invoice’s first listening to, folks from throughout Alaska spoke in regards to the challenges they face given the shortage of statewide protections in opposition to LGBTQ discrimination, and the components they contemplate when selecting to dwell in Alaska regardless of these challenges.
“I need to retire right here. I pay property taxes and I assist look after my getting old dad and mom and I volunteer — so I attempt to make Alaska higher in my little methods, however I don’t really feel secure right here. If I lose my job as a result of I’m homosexual, I might develop into a drain on state sources,” mentioned Alex Berry, an Anchorage resident. “Discrimination has monetary impacts along with the heartbreak and the immorality. I really feel a concern that if HB 99 doesn’t go, it is going to be one other sign to the merciless folks in Alaska that it’s OK to harm or kill folks they don’t like.”
Joshua Smith, an Air Drive veteran who’s homosexual, mentioned he didn’t embody his accomplice when he purchased his residence, out of concern he would face discrimination.
“I wasn’t prepared to gamble my future residence on the potential beliefs of my realtor or financial institution. It felt essential to have cowl tales and follow them upfront, hoping that they’d come off as pure,” mentioned Smith.
Terry Sullivan, an Anchorage resident whose grandchild is transgender, fought by way of tears as she addressed the committee members.
“I actually hope it does change, as a result of everyone deserves the fitting to be proud and pleased and secure,” mentioned Sullivan.
Mike Coons, one in every of two testifiers who opposed the invoice, and the president of an affiliation known as Involved Conservatives of Alaska, known as the measure “woke” and “rubbish.”
The committee has but to schedule the invoice for a vote.