What You Should Know About Proposition 1

Prop 1 is a ballot proposition you will see in Anchorage’s municipal election on April 3rd. It is an effort by Alaska Family Council President Jim Minnery to repeal portions of Anchorage’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance pertaining to transgender people and change how a person’s sex is defined[1]  for every municipal policy, procedure, and facility.

You can read the full list of code changes and ballot language here.

Here’s what you should know about Proposition 1:

Does not improve public safety

  • Existing laws already prohibit predatory behavior, including indecent exposure and voyeurism in spaces like restrooms and locker rooms. Prop 1 does nothing to strengthen these laws.
  • In Anchorage, and in the more than 200 cities and 19 states with these same non-discrimination protections, transgender people have been protected from unfair discrimination with no increase in public safety incidents as a result. (Source: National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women).

Invitation to harass

  • Proposition 1 allows strangers to demand to check a person’s “sex at birth” before allowing access to certain restrooms and public facilities.

Unethical & discriminatory

  • Proposition 1 would amend the Anchorage Municipal Code dealing with gender-segregated facilities in municipal buildings to bar transgender people from using the restroom that matches the gender they live as everyday.
  • Private businesses would be permitted to discriminate against transgender individuals and their families simply because of who they are.
  • Proposition 1 would also redefine sex in municipal code for all municipal functions as “an individual’s immutable biological condition of being male or female, as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at the time of birth.” In so doing, Prop 1 would prohibit the Municipality of Anchorage from recognizing the existence of transgender people in any municipal function or policy and effectively repeal the portions of Anchorage’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance protecting the rights of transgender people.
  • By allowing places of public accommodation – including hotels, restaurants, government agencies, and businesses — to create hostile environments for transgender employees where transgender guests are forced to use facilities that are inconsistent with how they live their lives, Proposition 1 would bring back employment discrimination to Anchorage. Managers could use this provision to discourage transgender job applicants and force out transgender employees.

Unenforceable

  • Proposition 1 offers no provisions for enforcement. This is why law enforcement and political leaders in other states have called “bathroom bans” of this kind a distraction from real public safety priorities.

Harmful to children

  • Proposition 1 requires Anchorage public schools to discriminate against transgender students by denying them access to facilities that are consistent with their gender identity. Prop 1 gives no provisions to schools to counter harassment or bullying.

Don’t bring discrimination back to Anchorage. Vote NO on Proposition 1