An Anchorage Assembly vote on a proposed ordinance to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is now at least two weeks away.
At the beginning of an extended public hearing Wednesday, Chair Dick Traini said the Assembly would finish the hearing and postpone further action until the Sept. 29 meeting. Traini said he wanted all 11 members of the Assembly to be present.
The vice-chair of the Assembly, Elvi Gray-Jackson, was in Washington, D.C., Wednesday for a reception at the White House. During the reception, which recognized Anchorage and other cities that met goals in the national "Let's Move" initiative to combat childhood obesity, Gray-Jackson introduced first lady Michelle Obama as a speaker.
Once all Assembly members are present, "we'll debate the item, amend if applicable, and potentially vote on it," Traini told the audience.
The Assembly's main action Tuesday night was to move forward a compromise version, Anchorage Ordinance 96-S1, authored by Assembly members Bill Evans and Patrick Flynn. Evans and Flynn said they aimed to strike a balance between legal protections for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people and exemptions for religious organizations. The compromise version will be taken up first on Sept. 29 and will be the "primary vehicle" for amendments, Traini said.
Assembly member Amy Demboski of Eagle River said after the meeting that she has "many amendments" in the works. She doesn't support the Evans-Flynn version of the ordinance, because, she said, it doesn't adequately protect people of faith. She added that she's working with another Assembly member on her proposals.
Traini said he plans to set a time for Assembly members to submit amendments before Sept. 29.
"Because we all have amendments," Traini said.
One has already been submitted, from Flynn, who says he's now proposing to narrow the scope of a religious exemption for those with ministerial duties.
By Wednesday evening, the Assembly had heard nearly seven hours of testimony on the ordinance over two consecutive nights. About 150 people testified overall.
Supporters said people should be protected from discrimination regardless of sexual orientation, with some citing personal incidents of discrimination; opponents, many invoking their religious beliefs, said such a law would conflict with religious freedom.
The provision in the ordinance allowing people to use gender-segregated restrooms in ways consistent with their identity drew a number of back-and-forth comments Wednesday night. A number of people testifying said they feared men using the new law as a premise to enter women's restrooms. One mother said she worried about her children's safety.
In an interview earlier this week, Evans said the ordinance would not set up any new rules on public restrooms.
"People that are transgender and present themselves as one sex or the other tend to use the bathroom with the sex that they are presenting as," Evans said. "You don't see a lot of people dressed the other way in the restroom with you."
He also questioned how the supervisors of public restrooms or other gender-segregated facilities would know if a visitor was anatomically male or female.
Supporters of the ordinance said they objected to the broad characterization of LGBT people as predators.
"Rapists and pedophiles are not specific to the LGBT or straight communities," said Susan Tow, a Westpark resident. "This ordinance will not change the laws or prosecution of those sick individuals."
Candyce Mersdof, an East Anchorage resident who opposed the measure, said she wasn't referring to people who have been transitioning from one gender to another. She said she's concerned about people misusing the law to prey on others with impunity.
For the next two weeks, the debates appear set to continue; Traini said he expects intense lobbying from both sides about amendments. In interviews before the meeting, Assembly members Ernie Hall and Paul Honeman said they and other Assembly members saw a noticeable uptick in emails the day after Tuesday's testimony.
Of the two days of testimony, Traini, the chair, echoed other Assembly members in saying he was deeply impressed by the civility and respect shown by those who appeared to speak.
"Just thinking of what happened in 2009… the people respected each other, played by the rules," Traini said. "That's how democracy works in this country."
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the last name of Susan Tow.