Voters in Anchorage, Alaska have
rejected a ballot measure that sought to roll back legal protections
for transgender people in effect more than two years.
With nearly all ballots counted,
Anchorage voted 53-47 to defeat Proposition 1, according to the
Anchorage
Daily News.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate,
cheered the news, calling the result “historic.”
“In a truly historic election,
Anchorage voters refused to succumb to hate and bigotry by rejecting
this discriminatory, anti-transgender ballot measure,” Griffin said
in a statement. “Community leaders, businesses, faith leaders, and
public officials all spoke out in support of equality. Together, we
sent a powerful message that Anchorage is a welcoming and inclusive
city for all – including transgender people. HRC was proud to work
on the ground alongside Anchorage’s brave transgender community and
the Fair Anchorage campaign to expose the opposition’s shameful
fearmongering and defeat this discriminatory proposition.”
Opponents of the city's existing law
that allows transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice
put the initiative on Tuesday's ballot, expanding language to include
“intimate facilities.” They said they sought the law's repeal
because it caused safety problems and made women uncomfortable.
Opponents of Proposition 1 included BP
and Wells Fargo, which said it would hurt the city's economy.