For millions of Americans, like me, Alaska is a magical land of ice and snow, beautiful mountains, magnificent creatures and very friendly people. It is a special place that my family and I have only seen in books, movies and on TV.
Visiting Anchorage and the great state of Alaska with my children is something we were hoping to do in the next few years. However, if Proposition 1 passes and becomes law, my family and I may not be able to visit Anchorage and Alaska because I am transgender.
While I am not from Anchorage or Alaska, I do come from a place that I believe shares some excellent values and traits with most Alaskans. I hail from New Jersey, but like many New Jerseyans – I am confident that the good people of Alaska also value honesty, freedom and a sense of fairness. Proposition 1 is not honest, takes away freedom and isn't fair at all.
Proposition 1 isn't about public locker rooms, showers, changing rooms, and restrooms. It is intended to remove transgender people like me from public life and to create openings for future discrimination. The reasoning behind it, the safety of women and children, is so faulty as to be almost laughable. Time and time again, it has been proven across the U.S. that where transgender people are free to use restrooms, locker rooms, etc. without harassment or fear of prosecution – proposed laws like Proposition 1 are legal remedies in search of a crime.
Anchorage already has laws on the books to protect people assaulted in public facilities. Rather than target transgender people who are the least likely to commit such an assault, but the most likely to become victims of assault – Proposition 1 supporters should work to increase penalties for assaults on anyone in a public facility.
It is confounding to me that Proposition 1 is being pushed by a conservative-leaning group and that their efforts are being supported by some Alaska Republicans. As a conservative and a long-time Republican committee member, I find it disheartening that some of my fellow conservatives and Republicans would support Proposition 1 instead of supporting my freedom-loving transgender brothers and sisters in Alaska. Treating transgender people as some scary "other" to be feared and regulated is neither conservative, nor Republican.
I am transgender, but I'm also a conservative Republican who was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio and I've attended the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland for the last three years. I used the women's restrooms at the Convention and at CPAC without an incident. It isn't a coincidence that the Republican and conservative women and I shared private space and had no issues, because both Cleveland and Maryland have non-discrimination protections for transgender people. We were all safe precisely because of non-discrimination protections like those Anchorage currently has today.
My hope is that one day, this Jersey girl and her family will someday arrive in Anchorage to begin our great Alaskan adventure. To make that happen for myself and my family, we need Anchorage voters to do their part and defeat Proposition 1. I believe that Alaska is magical and that Anchorage voters will see through Proposition 1 and vote no. I just hope I'm right.
Jennifer Williams is a Republican Committeewoman in New Jersey and was the first openly transgender Delegate to the Republican National Convention (2016).
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