Anchorage votes down anti-transgender bathroom proposition

Residents of Anchorage, Alaska defeated a ballot proposition that would have made it illegal for transgender people to use municipal restrooms, locker rooms and dressing rooms that match their gender identity, as opposed to the gender they were assigned at birth.

Proposition 1 went down by a vote of 47.3 percent in favor and 52.7 percent opposed during the city’s first vote-by-mail election, according to the city’s Municipal Clerk.

The Fair Anchorage campaign argued that the proposal, which would have repealed parts of the city’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance, was discriminatory and would open the door to harassment.

“Transgender people simply want the same rights afforded to all other people — the ability to live openly and participate fully in the world, without the fear of being harassed, intimidated, or vulnerable to violence,” the coalition said in a press release.

Proposition 1 would have required people to provide proof of gender by birth certificate.

The Gayly. April 7, 2018. 10:18 a.m. CST.