Ordinance is simply about the basics of living your life

Q. Why put the ordinance forward now?

A. I think really, culturally, we're at a place (where) there's a dialogue about sexual orientation issues, whether it's in the media or on television programs. People have become more aware of it. Gays, lesbians, bisexuals are just people who live among them and always have. I think people are more willing to be tolerant or even welcoming, take people at face value.

Q. Do you think your side of the debate needs to be advertising to counter the Rev. Prevo's ads?

A. I haven't seen them ... but two friends of mine have and were just incensed by the inflammatory nature of it. ...

First of all, many of the things he has put out ... are things that are completely illegal, and unrelated to the ordinance, and just pure hate-mongering. I don't know why anybody gives any time or energy to that. It's not what this is about. ... This is about jobs, this is about housing, it's about public accommodation, education. ... These are the basics of living your life. These are the simple contacts we have with one another about how to cooperate and behave. There's nothing special about it and there's nothing bizarre about it and there's nothing sexual about it. ...

I don't see the benefit in responding to any of that because it has nothing to do with the ordinance and I don't see why anyone would give that energy.

Q. In other cities where discrimination has been banned, have there been outcries you're aware of?

A. The sky hasn't fallen in the places where people have been made whole on this. The other thing is that, like, two-thirds of the Fortune 500 companies have put it into their own policies and procedures to protect this group of folks because it's good for business, it's good for recruitment and it's good for retention, it's good for morale and productivity. ... And frankly, if you work for an organization that doesn't have those in their policies and procedures, it's a challenge.

When I worked at the School District there was an anti-harassment policy but it didn't bar someone from firing me. A court case allowed me to have domestic partner benefits from my spouse but it didn't mean that I couldn't simply be fired because a new administration came into the school and said, "I don't like that about you. We're not going to have any blue-eyed people in the building, we are a green-eyed building."

Q. How can we gauge the degree or frequency of sexual discrimination incidents in Anchorage?

A. The Equal Rights Commission at the muni level and the Human Rights Commission at the state level don't have a way to protect us. So people won't report to them; there's no point. This is why there isn't a legal record or an official record of these instances of discrimination. It's ... you know, what would be the point? Whistling in the wind.

Q. Any thoughts to leave us with?

A. I just encourage you to not pay a lot of attention to fanatics. I know that's part of the balance of reporting. But he's got a TV station and all these other media; he's busy spewing hate. My version of Christianity is not about hate.

I'd like to see other media look at a more sane and sensible approach to this issue and consider the potential ramifications.

The sky hasn't fallen that I'm aware of anywhere that this has been passed, and it's passed in many parts of the country. Along both coasts and, strangely enough, smack in the middle. Wisconsin is the first state to pass a law. ... I think it will be the norm at some point. We'll be past all of this and people will wonder why it was a big deal. The same was true of all the other civil rights issues. ... And it took leadership. A little courage for our elected officials to say, this is the right thing to do.