Anchorage voters are first in U.S. to defeat ‘bathroom bill’

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Voters in Alaska’s largest city have become the first in the U.S. to defeat a so-called bathroom bill referendum that asked them to require people to use public bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender at birth.

Anchorage voters turned down a proposition that would have repealed part of a city ordinance that allowed people to use public bathroom and locker rooms according to their gender identity and would have instead required them to use those facilities according to their gender at birth.

Voting by mail and in person ended on April 3, and the repeal effort was losing 53-47 percent as of Monday, with nearly 78,000 votes counted and only several hundred to be counted when tallying ends on Friday. Supporters of the referendum conceded defeat.

Transgender activists hailed the victory, which they said could provide momentum ahead of similar upcoming votes, including one in Massachusetts in November.

“Not only is this a victory for Anchorage, but a victory nationally,” said Lillian Lennon, who campaigned against the Anchorage vote.

“Transgender discrimination is popping up everywhere, and this victory means that as a nation we can stand together against discrimination,” she said.

Currently 19 states plus the District of Columbia include gender identity as a protected class in statewide public accommodations laws, according to Colorado-based Family Policy Alliance, a public policy partner of the conservative Focus on the Family organization. Researcher Autumn Stroup said in an email that tracking city regulations is more complicated.

The issue of transgender bathroom access moved into the national spotlight in 2015, after the Houston City Council adopted a nondiscrimination ordinance that included protections for transgender people using restrooms based on gender identity.

Opponents of the ordinance gathered enough signatures for a repeal referendum, then mounted a campaign using the slogan “No Men in Women’s Bathrooms.” By a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent, the anti-bias ordinance was repealed.

After the election is certified next week, Anchorage will hold the distinction of being the first U.S. voting jurisdiction to defeat such an effort in a stand-alone ballot measure, said Alex Morash, spokesman for the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund.

The Anchorage proposition was filed by Jim and Kim Minnery and their group, Alaska Family Action.

While conceding defeat, Jim Minnery said “we’re encouraged that 47 percent of the people in Anchorage didn’t buy into the $1 million infusion that the outside LGBT activist groups poured into the city.”

With Alaska’s economy emerging from a recession, influential city groups were wary about a possible economic backlash if the repeal was successful.