How Will the Lesbian, Gay, Transgendered and Bisexual Community Respond to the Veto of Anchorage Ordinance 64?

Mayor Sullivan vetoed Anchorage Ordinance 2009-64, S-2, and it appears that perhaps the Assembly will not overturn that vote by Monday's deadline. It is no secret that many LGBT people and people with gender identity issues recognized that Assembly Woman Debbie Ossiander was the hoped for swing vote to overturn the veto. It appears Ms. Ossiander chose not to change her position, and her vote will stand at "no." While I respect Ms. Ossiander's right to choose, I disagree with her ideologies for maintaining her position in opposition to AO 64, S-2, partly because of my wish to see it passed, but mostly because of her own words.

Ms. Ossiander’s interpretation of the law, like some folk’s fundamentalist interpretation of the bible, is very literal. She wants everything clearly defined and neatly laid out. No law can be bulletproof, and weaknesses in the law will be found and tested in court. Hence the three branches of our government: legislative, judicial, executive. The legislative branch writes the laws, the executive branch implements policy in accordance with those laws, and the judicial branch sets punishments for failing to uphold those laws or abide by the policies stemming from them. Perhaps Ms. Ossiander is less afraid of the interpretation of our court system, and more inclined to fret over the literal interpretation the religious right. Well, the Municipal bylaws state that the fundamentalist do not have the right to interpret our city laws, and Ms. Ossiander is beholden to the dictates of Municipal mandates and not fundamentalist judgement. If her convictions lead her to admit that LGBT people and people with gender identity issues are being treated badly, then she should pass the ordinance and let municipal lawyers decide what does or does not apply to this legislation. As all legislation must be tested and proved worthy, so should this ordinance.

The right wing has battered and bruised the public civic psyche with their insipid and constant attacks on all three branches of government (local, state and federal) to such an extent that citizens no longer trust each to do what must be done to maintain the system of checks and balances necessary to protect our rights under the Constitution, state and federal. The right wing attacks not only our government, but our belief in government.

So the mayor vetoed the ordinance, what do we think the assembly wants us to do next? Have we asked the assembly members who supported the ordinance what they want us to do next? I know that Equality Works suggested we turn attention to the national level and support the federal anti-discrimination bill. I agree, but what about the grassroots aspect of this fight? Did we not all come together at the Democratic caucus to support grassroots agendas? Did we not all witness the power of grass roots activism during the years that Howard Dean pushed the Democratic party to get out the vote? What happened after Obama was elected? Have we all fragmented into our little groups once more to took up once again our specific battles? What do we expect when we choose to approach reform and pursuit of equality in this manner? Small groups can be isolated, and cut off. That is what the fundamentalist right tried to do with this issue, but we saw evidence that the larger community of progressive still supports us. We need to tap into that community, throw aside any of our own misgivings (that once again LGBT will help liberals who will fail to give us a helping hand up), and get involved on the larger scale of progressive politics. As terrible as having our rights denied, the fundamentalist are in pursuit of a much larger goal, and to deprive them of that larger goal, we must continue to act as a unified front.

My argument with the fundamentalist movement goes far beyond the issue of gay rights. I vehemently disagree with their attempt to interpret the Constitution with the same selective literalism they apply to the Bible. I served my country to defend the Constitution. I did so because the principles it espouses remains through the ages. It is an extension of every other piece of codification that has helped humanity, step by step, society by society, organize itself to do more than merely exist hand to mouth, harvest to harvest, kill to kill. People come and they go. We do are best to maintain the equilibrium of justice from generation to generation in the hopes that are children’s children won’t have to reinvent the wheel and fight and die to establish a new system or revamp the one they inherited. Extreme fundamentalist have hijacked the Bible that I grew up respecting for the allegorical and metaphorical power of its message, and now they want to twist my Constitution as well.

We are all familiar by now with the habit fundamentalist have of picking and choosing which portions of the Bible they wish to interpret word for word. They seek to apply the same tactics with our Constitution. Gun rights for all (no matter how unfit to handle a weapon they may be), but that stupid first amendment is only for our preachers and lay persons who have the authority of God backing their every move. Or, we believe in the need for a strong judicial branch, but only if they abide by the wishes or OUR religious leadership, because only they have a direct line to God.

What do we think? We wanted this ordinance passed, and I think we should keep at it. We should believe in the efforts of the assembly folk who pushed for its passage. Let’s ask them what we should do and do it. In addition, we, the LGBT community need to outreach to the larger community and let them know exist. I am not talking about parades, or t-shirts or slogans, but the real deal. We need to open up, not just be out. I love what Harvey Milk did during one of his many campaigns to run for office (this man understood the need for repetition) when he asked his associates to make certain that they had come out to their parents and to those closest to them. We need to highlight what we have to offer this community; what they stand to lose if we are pushed back into the closets, and connect more deeply with those who agree that we aren’t being treated very nicely by a relative minority of people.

We have come a long way since ‘93. We can go much further, but to do so we need to remain a part of the larger progressive agenda. Other than remote parts of Canada, and various tiny islands in the Atlantic and Pacific, the places to “get away” from intolerance and prejudice are shrinking rapidly. We can flock to and hover around the hubs of big cities, and the usual avant guard locations, or we can continue to push for the right to integrate and function as normal citizens in the towns and cities of our choosing. Personally, I like it here in Anchorage, and I like being a part of my community. It isn’t perfect, but I have come too far to fall back now.