Tag Archives: Identity Reports

My story of 2009

By Mel | Published: Friday, 1 January 2010

Not quite ALL about my 2009, because that would take a year to write. This only took several hours.

Posted in About writing, Alaska justice system, Alaska politics, Cold, Depression, Journal, Long Dark, NaNoWriMo, Ordinance, True Diversity Dinner | Also tagged Alaska Commons, Alaska Judicial Council, Alaska Legislature, Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Anchorage Press, Arliss Sturgulewski, Bent Alaska, cave, Celtic Diva, Columbia Sussex, couch, Crossed Genres, Dad, Dan Sullivan, Dave, death, Eddie Burke, Floridana Alaskiana v2.5, Grandpa Claude, Green family, Green-Lieght family, grey, Grrlzlist, Heather Aronno, Hilton Anchorage, hotel workers, Identity Inc., James Bopp Jr., Jane Angvik, Janson Jones, Jesse, John Aronno, Julius, lgbtq, LGBTQ allies, lima beans, Linda Kellen Biegel, Mark, Mark Begich, Melz published work, Mer, Miller v. Carpeneti, Mom, my apartment, NaNoWriMo 2009, Nicholas Hughes, One in 10, Palin ethics complaints, PrideFest, Progressive Alaska (blog), Ptery, Sarah Palin, Sean Cockerham, SOSAnchorage.net, Stef Gingrich, Summer of Hate, sunflowers, True Diversity Dinner 2009, Väi the cat, veto, Vic Fischer, violence against women, Wayne Anthony Ross (WAR), writing | 2 Comments

My letter to Mayor Sullivan: Please let AO 64 stand

By Mel | Published: Monday, 17 August 2009

Today’s the day that Mayor Dan Sullivan is expected to announce whether or not he’ll veto the Anchorage equal rights ordinance AO 2009-64 passed last Tuesday by the Anchorage Assembly. Here’s the letter I sent him urging him to let it stand. Dear Mayor Sullivan: I am writing to urge you to permit AO 2009-64 to stand. There [...]

Posted in Ordinance | Also tagged Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Dan Sullivan, lgbtq, One in 10 | Leave a comment

“There’s no sign of discrimination” — uh, yes there is

By Mel | Published: Thursday, 13 August 2009

This is a slightly revised version of a page I just put up to give Identity Reports and One in Ten a permanent front page presence on my blog. In the 1980s, the nonprofit organization Identity, Inc. conducted two major research efforts to profile Alaska’s lesbian and gay community and to document sexual orientation bias in [...]

Posted in Alaska politics, Ordinance | Also tagged Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Identity Inc., lgbtq, One in 10, willful ignorance | Leave a comment

Delay by “task force”: My testimony to the Anchorage Assembly

By Mel | Published: Friday, 7 August 2009

Over the past couple of weeks, Bent Alaska has been publishing some of the testimony of people who testified to the Anchorage Assembly in favor of the Anchorage equal rights ordinance AO 2009-64, which if passed will grant equal protection from discrimination to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans people who live, work, and/or visit the [...]

Posted in Ordinance | Also tagged Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Assembly public hearing, June 16 public hearing, lgbtq, One in 10 | 5 Comments

Kelley testimony 2: Oncale Supreme Court decision on workplace sexual harassment does not protect LGBTs from discrimination

By Mel | Published: Thursday, 23 July 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Services, Inc., 523 U.S. 75 (1998) was offered by one speaker in July 21 Assembly testimony as proof that existing law already exists to protect LGBT people from unfair discrimination. But, as attorney and UAA professor Pamela Kelley writes, Oncale's application is very narrow: to sexual harassment between members of the same sex (regardless of sexual orientation) in the workplace.

Posted in Ordinance | Also tagged Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Assembly public hearing, July 21 public hearing, lgbtq, Pamela Kelley, sexual assault, sexual harassment, U.S. Supreme Court | 3 Comments

Identity Reports and One in Ten

By Mel | Published: Tuesday, 16 June 2009

I will be testifying about these studies at tonight’s Anchorage Assembly meeting. They are are online by following this link: http://www.henkimaa.com/identity/. Update (6/17/09) I’ve turned this into a “sticky post” so it’ll stay on top for awhile, to make it easier for people to find the study documents. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll [...]

Posted in Ordinance | Also tagged Identity Inc., One in 10 | Leave a comment

Identity Reports & One in Ten — now online!

By Mel | Published: Sunday, 14 June 2009

You’ve heard about them — or maybe you haven’t — but now you have. Anyway: now they’re online! As I wrote in my June 2 letter to the Anchorage Assembly: It’s been pointed out that the government maintains no statistics on sexual orientation discrimination because it’s currently not illegal to discriminate on that basis. But it’s [...]

Posted in Ordinance | Also tagged Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Identity Inc., lgbtq, One in 10 | 4 Comments

My letter to the Anchorage Assembly

By Mel | Published: Tuesday, 2 June 2009

My letter to the Anchorage Municipal Assembly and Acting Mayor Matt Claman in support of the Anchorage equal rights ordinance, which would add "sexual orientation" and "veteran status" to those classes already included in Title V, Anchorage's equal rights code.

Posted in Alaska politics, Ordinance, The incredibly true adventures of Rev. Jerry Prevo | Also tagged Anchorage Assembly, Anchorage Baptist Temple, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, Identity Inc., Jerry Prevo, lgbtq, One in 10 | 4 Comments

Channel 11 interview, part 2 (the full story)

By Mel | Published: Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Once upon a time I was a probationary employee of the Book Cache at Sears Mall. And then they discovered I was... [gasp]... a lesbian!

Posted in Alaska politics, Ordinance | Also tagged Anchorage, Anchorage ordinance 2009-64, lgbtq, Melz history, One in 10 | 2 Comments

Same-sex marriage: A personal history

By Mel | Published: Saturday, 9 May 2009

Good news from Maine Wednesday: its legislature passed, & its governor signed, a law making it legal for same-sex couples to marry. This makes Maine the 5th state in the U.S., after Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, & Iowa, to grant the same civil rights & responsibilities of marriage granted to heterosexual couples, to lesbian & gay [...]