ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Voters in Anchorage, Alaska have narrowly rejected a proposal that would have mandated restroom use in buildings that are owned by the city to correspond with one’s birth gender.
Proposition 1 would have required “all multiple occupancy changing facilities and restrooms that are owned or operated by the municipality to be designated for, and used only by, persons of the same sex,” voiding language in the city’s current nondiscrimination ordinance.
It also would have allowed places of public accommodation, such as faith-based shelters, to establish policies surrounding the use of locker rooms, changing rooms, restrooms, showers and any other intimate facilities.
Read the proposal in full here.
The measure was especially backed by the group Alaska Family Action (AFA), which believes that “in private, intimate spaces such as locker rooms and showers, women and girls should not have to be exposed to men, and vice versa” and that “the duty of government is to protect Alaskans’ privacy, safety, and dignity in intimate places—not threaten it.”
AFA released two television advertisements, with one featuring a woman named Kate who told her story of personally witnessing a man who identifies as a woman watching the ladies showering in the locker room.
“I was in the locker room and there was this man watching the women shower. The staff said, ‘This person identifies as a female. You’re the one with the problem,'” she recalled. “Predatory men are using these laws to violate women. … Violating the privacy of women is discrimination.”
The coalition called Fair Anchorage emerged as the proposal’s main opponent, as it organized a group of volunteers to make calls and knock on doors to urge residents to vote no. Alaska Public Media also reports that Fair Anchorage raised $824K for their efforts as compared to the $128K raised by Proposition 1 supporters.
“Many of the donations are non-monetary contributions from outside national groups like the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom for All Americans and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaii, most of which were for compensation for staff time, services and consultations,” the outlet notes, however.
While many residents supported the proposal, it did not generate enough votes for a passage. Out of the 76,950 votes that were cast, 36,415 voted yes, and 40,535 voted no—47 percent to 52 percent.
Opponents of Proposition 1 called it a victory against “hate” and “bigotry.”
“Anchorage voters refused to succumb to hate and bigotry by rejecting this discriminatory, anti-transgender ballot measure. Community leaders, businesses, faith leaders, and public officials all spoke out in support of equality,” Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement.
However, those who backed the measure said that it is not about hatred, but a desire not to support sin and for those with gender dysphoria to obtain help.
“We pray for our mentally ill. They are people, too, in need of divine intervention! Praise God for man is man & woman is woman,” one commenter wrote.
“Transgenderism is a sin. It is when a person rejects how God made them. This is a great rebellion against God. They need to know that God never makes mistakes nor can He. He loves them, but He desires better things for them than they could ever imagine,” another stated.
As previously reported, Christians believe that all men are born with the Adamic sin nature, and have inherent inclinations that are contrary to the law of God, being utterly incapable of helping themselves. It is why Jesus outlined in John 3:5-7 that men must be regenerated by the second birth.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God,” he declared. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
2 Corinthians 5:15-17 also teaches, “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. … Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
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