House committee advances LGBTQ anti-discrimination bill on 4-3 vote

The Alaska House State Affairs Committee voted 4-3 Thursday to advance a bill that would add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to state civil rights law.

House Bill 301 would expand Alaska's anti-discrimination statutes to cover employment, housing, and public accommodations.

Representative Elise Galvin, who sponsored the measure, said the bill closes a legal gap in Alaska law. The U.S. Supreme Court held in its 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County decision that Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination in employment covers discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Galvin cited the decision as part of the rationale for updating state law.

The bill adds a definition of sex to include gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation in state discrimination statutes. It also adds the word sex to a statute dealing with real estate marketing and transactions that previously omitted it from protected characteristics such as race, religion, age, and marital status.

"House Bill 301 helps ensure that a person cannot be denied a job, fired, refused housing, treated unfairly by a landlord, denied the opportunity to rent or buy a residence, or refused access to services simply because of who they are," Galvin said.

Galvin said the legislation does not create a special class of rights but ensures equal treatment under existing civil rights laws.

"House Bill 301 helps close a legal gap, aligns Alaska law with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and provides clarity for individuals, employers, landlords, businesses, and the public," Galvin said.

The committee held its first hearing on the bill Thursday. Approximately 35 people testified on the measure during the hearing. Committee Chair Ashley Carrick said the committee received roughly 300 pages of written testimony in less than a week.

Supporters shared personal stories of housing and employment discrimination. Reverend Michael Burke, president of the Alaska Christian Conference, testified in favor of the bill. He described a family at his church who lost housing after a landlord learned they were a same-sex couple. The family's two elementary school daughters had to switch schools as a result.

"It's just one of so many different stories about discrimination throughout the state in housing and public services and employment simply because of who people love," Burke said.

An Air Force veteran from Chugiak testified that he avoided mentioning his partner when buying a home because Alaska lacked anti-discrimination protections for housing.

"I knew without anti-discrimination protections regarding banking and housing, I knew that it would only take one person to derail my dream of owning a home or starting a life here," the veteran said.

Opponents raised concerns about religious liberty and bathroom safety. A caller from Dillingham said similar bills in other states have forced business owners and faith-based groups to provide services that violate their religious convictions. A college student from Alaska testified that the bill would strip away First Amendment rights and endanger women by allowing men into women's bathrooms.

Before the vote, Representative St. Clair said much of the subject matter was already covered in current law and announced he would vote against the measure.

The committee voted 4-3 to advance the bill. Representatives Sarah Vance, Kevin McCabe, and St. Clair voted against the measure.

Committee Chair Ashley Carrick spoke after the vote. Carrick said she was one of the first three openly elected LGBT people in this body.

"I employ a staff member, as do many others in this building, who identifies as transgender, who has spoken out in positive favor of this legislation on multiple occasions," Carrick said. "I do not want my staff member, my dear friends, my family members, or others who are actively or have experienced this discrimination to continue to face that."

Carrick apologized that the legislature could not take swifter action on the measure earlier in the session. She said the committee moved the bill during its first hearing because of the lateness of the session.

"It is my fervent hope that the next legislature will take extremely swift action on this, that it will go through both bodies, that it will go to the governor's desk, and that, like so many have said today, we can stop having the same argument over and over and over again about something that seems so common sense to so many people," Carrick said.