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Anchorage Assembly passes anti-discrimination ordinance

by Jason Lamb
Tuesday, August 11, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Anchorage Assembly members fought back tears Tuesday night before a decision three months in the making -- approval of a city-wide ordinance making it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

The 7 to 4 decision came down Tuesday night after the assembly heard from more than 600 people who signed up to testify throughout the summer.

The evening was emotional even before the decision, but this time it came from the other side of the testifying podium -- the assembly members themselves.

After months and months of listening to public testimony on the controversial anti-discrimination ordinance, it was the assembly's turn to talk -- and they rivaled the emotion of the 600 speakers before them.

"The rest of the people in this community deserve equal rights just like the rest of us," said assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson.

"We need to treat each other well in this world, and we don't, and I wish we did," assembly chair Debbie Ossiander said.

Before the historic vote that would make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation, Jennifer Johnston, a self-described "quiet one" on the assembly, told the packed auditorium about an unnamed person who inspired her to seek public service.

"That person did more for his community, for the state and country than I could do in 10 lifetimes, but that person's life was short, it was cut by suicide, and I've often wondered if that person had been born 60 years later if the outcome would have been different," Johnston said.

The usually stoic assembly members showed a side they don't often display as they announced their decisions.

"This is a hurtful thing to do and I'm trying not to look at certain people in the audience right now, but I'm not going to be supporting this," Ossiander said.

Assembly members Patrick Flynn, Elvi Gray-Jackosn, Matt Claman, Sheila Selkregg, Jennifer Johnston, Mike Gutierrez and vice-chairwoman Harriet Drummond supported the ordinance. Chair Debbie Ossiander and assembly members Bill Starr, Chris Birch and Dan Coffey opposed the measure.

"I have so many friends that this means so much to, and it passed and I know there will be a very good chance it will be vetoed, but we'll come right back -- this is just as much as we could have hoped for from this," ordinance supporter Heather Hamilton said.

The vote came down, to the dismay of many in red.

"I think it sucks, the whole thing sucks, we haven't had any problems here in town, how many people were shipped in from out-of-state to stand up here and protest," ordinance opposer Mary Morgan said.

But it might not be over. The descision is one majority vote short of reaching the 8-vote supermajority necessary to override a mayoral veto. Mayor Dan Sullivan has seven days to potentially veto the ordinance that took nearly three months to pass.

Sullivan declined a request for an interview immediately after the decision.

If that's something the mayor wants to do, he's got seven days to do it.

Contact Jason Lamb at jlamb@ktuu.com