Saturday, February 11, 2012

Help the One Anchorage Initiative



The One Anchorage Initiative simply provides to gay and transgender Alaskans the same legal protections that are already provided to other persons in Anchorage in employment, financial practices, housing, and restaurants, department stores and other businesses.

For over 30 years Anchorage Municipal Code, Title 5, Equal Rights, has ensured equality for Alaskans who live, work and shop in Anchorage. It provides legal protections on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, or physical or mental disability.

Today, most – but not all – hardworking Alaskans are protected from being unfairly fired. For example, no one can be fired from a job solely because they are married or single. It is illegal to refuse to interview a job applicant because the business owner doesn’t like Christians, Jews or Muslims. You can’t be denied service in a restaurant because you’re African-American, Asian, from South America or Alaska Native. You can’t be turned down for a credit card or bank loan because you’re sight or hearing impaired.

However, these legal protections that most of us rely on everyday do NOT protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender workers. Right now in Anchorage NO STATE OR LOCAL LAWS OF ANY KIND protect people from being unfairly fired or refused an interview because of being gay, transgender or straight.

In Anchorage, a woman can be fired solely because her employer believes she is a lesbian – for reasons having nothing to do with her job performance.

One Anchorage believes – as did the founders of the Municipality of Anchorage – that fair and equal treatment for ALL by our city’s laws is the best policy.

Find out how you can help at OneAnchorage.com

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