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OPINION: We’re 56 Alaska athletes of all ages and skill levels. We support trans kids in sports.

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OPINION: We’re 56 Alaska athletes of all ages and skill levels. We support trans kids in sports.


We are athletes from Alaska, and we support transgender children playing sports on teams that align with their gender identity. Our backgrounds are diverse, ranging from K-12 to NCAA Division 1-level competitive sports and beyond. We believe all children deserve the same opportunities to play, lose, win and learn.

It can be hard to understand what it means to be transgender, especially if you’ve never met a transgender person. But we can all agree that transgender kids should be treated with dignity and respect, just like everyone else. Trans kids are kids, just like your kids and like the kid you used to be. Trans kids like all the same things those kids like. They like to learn, dance, play, sing and compete in sports.

In 2021, the Alaska Legislature proposed a statewide anti-trans sports ban that was stopped after overwhelming public testimony, and a similar ban by the Alaska School Activities Association was tabled after public testimony earlier this year. But now the Alaska Board of Education has proposed a similar regulation change that would violate every student’s privacy and prohibit trans children from playing sports on teams that match their gender identity. We want to encourage the Board of Education to consider how that change would hurt trans children and all of Alaska’s young people.

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Every child deserves to know what it’s like to compete in sports. They deserve to learn what it’s like to be tied 24-24 in the third set of a volleyball game, or pushing to the limit to beat a personal record. They should know what it’s like to lift up and be lifted up by your teammates. They deserve the rush and euphoria of a hard-fought win! They also deserve to know what it’s like to have to ride the bus back home after their team didn’t play its best. They should have the opportunity to feel like they could have done better, to experience disappointment and to learn from it, to get back to practice with a supportive coach. These are experiences that any athlete knows. They are experiences that build character, fortitude and lifelong memories.

The purpose of school sports is not to train Olympians or elite athletes, although many Olympians and elite athletes may come out of Alaska’s K-12 sports teams. The purpose of K-12 sports in Alaska is to teach students skills like leadership, hard work, teamwork, inclusion, sportsmanship, self-discipline, perseverance and communication. Not only do trans students benefit from learning these skills, but their participation enriches those skills for others. Too often, though, requiring that a trans student compete with the sports team corresponding to their sex assigned at birth means that they don’t compete at all.

Cisgender students suffer under this policy as well, because enforcing the policy will require diminishing the privacy of all students in order to determine their sex assigned at birth. Every student is up for questioning or investigation by adults who should be there as trusted mentors, not gender police.

We urge the Alaska Department of Education to live its mission and continue to work towards providing an excellent experience for every student by not adopting the proposed regulation changes.

Isa Weiss, Division 1 gymnast

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Ava Earl, Division 1 cross-country runner

Jenna DiFolco, former University of Alaska Anchorage cross-country skier

Kelly Meierotto, University of Alaska Swimming alumna

Sarah Mehl Histand, Alaskan mental health therapist and fitness trainer

Angelica Peger, president of Fairbanks Roller Derby

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Bird Nelson, owner of Ascension Rock Club

Jade Bodenhamer, yoga instructor

Nolan Earnest, cross-country running

Justin Hannah, cross-country running

Brianna Silva, volleyball

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Zoe Foshee, flag football

Bradley Cross, track and field

Kristina Miller, soccer

Roan Willson, alpine skiing

Julian Dann, biking

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Hannah Kepner, rock climbing

Hunter Moeller, cross-country skiing

Hannah Chapman-Dutton, volleyball

David Song, tennis

Laura Weingartner, soccer

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Anika Pinzner, field hockey

Colin Mckenzie, cross-country skiing

Kendell Macomber, aerial arts

Victoria Nelson, bowling

A. Hunter, taekwondo

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Josef Maier, rock climbing

Hopelynn Uele, volleyball

Kuba Grzeda, cross-country running

Sarah Goetz, aerial arts

Morganne Armstrong, basketball

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Reily Dixon, cross-country skiing

Issa Spatrisano, rugby

Erin I’nama, swimming

Frana Burtness-Adams, volleyball

Cora DeLaca, alpine skiing

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Alanna Greenwell, cross-country running

Jennifer Campbell, basketball

Brandy Harty, cross-country skiing

Scott Joyce, basketball

Kristen Schupp, cross-country skiing

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Wendy Berg, cross-country skiing

Nani Saunders, swimming

Jessica Maier, ice hockey

M. Szatkowski, cross-country running

Michelle Gavel, cycling

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Jennifer Anderson

Andrew Pace, running

Kristin Knight Pace, long-distance dog mushing

Corrine Leistikow, M.D., cycling

Sara Mustard

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Stevie Goetz, soccer

Drew Krull, soccer

Emma Zayon, cross-country running

Maggie Whitaker, cross-country skiing

Aurora Bowers, cross-country skiing

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The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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Alaska

Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Gets Fired For Twerking On The Job

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Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Gets Fired For Twerking On The Job


A flight attendant’s viral TikTok video ended up costing her job. Nelle Diala, who was working as a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines for over six months was reportedly fired from her job after recording a twerking video while at work, the New York Post reported. After losing her job for “violating” the airline’s “social media policy”, Diala set up a GoFundMe page for financial support. The twerking and dancing video, posted by Diala on her personal social media account, went viral on TikTok and Instagram. The video was captioned, “ghetto bih till i D-I-E, don’t let the uniform fool you.”

After being fired, Diala reposted the twerking video with the new caption: “Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive. What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.” She added the hashtag #discriminationisreal.

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According to Diala’s GoFundMe page, she posted the “lighthearted video” during a layover. The video was shot in an empty aircraft. She wrote, “It was a harmless clip that was recorded at 6 am while waiting 2 hours for pilots. I was also celebrating the end of probation.”

“The video went viral overnight, but instead of love and support, it brought unexpected scrutiny. Although it was a poor decision on my behalf I didn’t think it would cost me my dream job,” she added.

Also Read: To Wi-Fi Or Not To Wi-Fi On A Plane? Pros And Cons Of Using Internet At 30,000 Feet

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Talking about being “wrongfully fired”, she said, “My employer accused me of violating their social media policy. I explained that the video wasn’t intended to harm anyone or the company, but they didn’t want to listen. Without warning, they terminated me. No discussion, no chance to defend myself-and no chance for a thorough and proper investigation.”

The seemingly “harmless clip” has led Diala to lose her “dream job”. She shared, “Losing my job was devastating. I’ve always been careful about what I share online, and I never thought this video, which didn’t even mention the airline by name, would cost me my career. Now, I am trying to figure out how to move forward.”






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Federal funds will help DOT study wildlife crashes on Glenn Highway

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Federal funds will help DOT study wildlife crashes on Glenn Highway


New federal funds will help Alaska’s Department of Transportation develop a plan to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife on one of the state’s busiest highways.

The U.S. Transportation Department gave the state a $626,659 grant in December to conduct a wildlife-vehicle collision study along the Glenn Highway corridor stretching between Anchorage’s Airport Heights neighborhood to the Glenn-Parks Highway interchange.

Over 30,000 residents drive the highway each way daily.

Mark Eisenman, the Anchorage area planner for the department, hopes the study will help generate new ideas to reduce wildlife crashes on the Glenn Highway.

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“That’s one of the things we’re hoping to get out of this is to also have the study look at what’s been done, not just nationwide, but maybe worldwide,” Eisenman said. “Maybe where the best spot for a wildlife crossing would be, or is a wildlife crossing even the right mitigation strategy for these crashes?”

Eisenman said the most common wildlife collisions are with moose. There were nine fatal moose-vehicle crashes on the highway between 2018 and 2023. DOT estimates Alaska experiences about 765 animal-vehicle collisions annually.

In the late 1980s, DOT lengthened and raised a downtown Anchorage bridge to allow moose and wildlife to pass underneath, instead of on the roadway. But Eisenman said it wasn’t built tall enough for the moose to comfortably pass through, so many avoid it.

DOT also installed fencing along high-risk areas of the highway in an effort to prevent moose from traveling onto the highway.

Moose typically die in collisions, he said, and can also cause significant damage to vehicles. There are several signs along the Glenn Highway that tally fatal moose collisions, and he said they’re the primary signal to drivers to watch for wildlife.

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“The big thing is, the Glenn Highway is 65 (miles per hour) for most of that stretch, and reaction time to stop when you’re going that fast for an animal jumping onto the road is almost impossible to avoid,” he said.

The city estimates 1,600 moose live in the Anchorage Bowl.



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Flight attendant sacked for twerking on the job: ‘What’s wrong with a little twerk before work’

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Flight attendant sacked for twerking on the job: ‘What’s wrong with a little twerk before work’


They deemed the stunt not-safe-for-twerk.

An Alaska Airlines flight attendant who was sacked for twerking on camera has created a GoFundMe to support her while she seeks a new berth.

The crewmember, named Nelle Diala, had filmed the viral booty-shaking TikTok video on the plane while waiting two hours for the captain to arrive, A View From the Wing reported.

“I never thought a single moment would cost me everything,” wrote the ex-crewmember. TikTok / @_jvnelle415

She captioned the clip, which also blew up on Instagram, “ghetto bih till i D-I-E, don’t let the uniform fool you.”

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Diala was reportedly doing a victory dance to celebrate the end of her new hire probationary period.

Unfortunately, her jubilation was short-lived as Alaska Airlines nipped her employment in the bum just six months into her contract.

The fanny-wagging flight attendant feels that she didn’t do anything wrong.

Diala was ripped online over her GoFundMe page. GoFundMe

Diala has since reposted the twerking clip with the new caption: “Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive. What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.”

The new footage was hashtagged #discriminationisreal.

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The disgraced stewardess even set up a GoFundMe page to help support the so-called “wrongfully fired” flight attendant until she can land a new flight attendant gig.

“I never thought a single moment would cost me everything,” wrote the ex-crewmember. “Losing my job was devastating.”

“Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive,” Diala wrote on TikTok while reacting to news of her firing. “What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.” Getty Images

She claimed that the gig had allowed her to meet new people and see the world, among other perks.

While air hostessing was ostensibly a “dream job,” Diala admitted that she used the income to help fund her “blossoming lingerie and dessert businesses,” which she runs under the Instagram handles @cakezncake (which doesn’t appear to have any content?) and @figure8.lingerie.

As of Wednesday morning, the crowdfunding campaign has raised just $182 of its $12,000 goal.

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Diala was ripped online for twerking on the job as well as her subsequent GoFundMe efforts.

“You don’t respect the uniform, you don’t respect your job then,” declared one critic on the popular aviation-focused Instagram page The Crew Lounge. “Terms and Conditions apply.”

“‘Support for wrongly fired flight attendant??’” mocked another. “Her GoFund title says it all. She still thinks she was wrongly fired. Girl you weren’t wrongly fired. Go apply for a new job and probably stop twerking in your uniform.”

“The fact that you don’t respect your job is one thing but doing it while in uniform and at work speaks volumes,” scoffed a third. “You’re the brand ambassador and it’s not a good look.”

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