Discrimination Does Exist in Anchorage

I found this comment in the Anchorage Daily News today, August 20, in the letter to the editor section. This person was responding to Mayor Sullivan's recent veto of AO 64, also known as the Gay Rights Ordinance.

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  GoBadgers wrote on 08/19/2009 04:57:29 PM:

  I like to know why we don't tax this GL lifestyle. It doesn't matter if you are obese or a heavy smoker, gays, especially gay men, have a shorter life expectancy and are a grave health care risk. Yet we discriminate against smokers, heavy people are being targeted, but gays with their disgusting lifestyle and all the ailments that goes with it are immune from inclusion in this serious debate.
  I think it is incredibly bizarre that people actually want to encourage others to live hopeless, unhealthy lives and even more, dictate to everyone else that it is a reasonable decision! Thank you Mayor Sullivan for giving us a little breathing room before these logic-challenged liberals raise their stupid ordinance again.

Gays, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered people experience this level of discrimination on a fairly regular basis. Yes, I said discrimination and not "poor treatment." An attempt was made to explain this to the Anchorage Assembly. Four members still insist that no evidence of any real discrimination exists. Well, here is my first submission of evidence.

If this fellow were allowed to do so, he would tax gay men because he believes they "are a grave health care risk." He has no shred of evidence to back up this statement (nor did the several other people who accused gays of this during the hearings), and yet, if he were to have a seat at some level of government, he would single gay men out for taxation. He attempts to justify his treatment of gays by saying that they "live hopeless, unhealthy lives..."

I fully expect bullies like the fellow above to make it a point to go out of their way to let gay people know that they lost, that they will be discriminated against in future, and that nothing can be done to stop it. No ordinance. No equal protection under the law. The council on discrimination will continue to round file complaints of sexual discrimination because, according to Mayer Sullivan, Dan Coffey, Debbie Ossiander, Chris Birch and Bill Starr, such discrimination doesn't exist. NEXT!