In its first public hearing on Monday, a bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people in Alaska drew overwhelming support.
The bill’s supporters say they have been working on these efforts for months, and similar bills have been introduced unsuccessfully for a decade.House Bill 99
But supporters this year, including Planned Parenthood and the Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said they hoped the bill would gain more traction this session amid actions from Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy that members of the LGBTQ community say will make them less safe. That includes the governor’s proposed
“I want to retire here. I pay property taxes and I help care for my aging parents and I volunteer — so I try to make Alaska better in my little ways, but I don’t feel safe here. If I lose my job because I’m gay, I could become a drain on state resources,” said Alex Berry, an Anchorage resident. “Discrimination has financial impacts in addition to the heartbreak and the immorality.
“I wasn’t willing to gamble my future home on the potential beliefs of my realtor or bank. It felt necessary to have cover stories and practice them in advance, hoping that they would come off as natural,” said Smith.
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