Anchorage Voters Probably Rejected LGBT Rights

Bad day. Although not all of yesterday's votes have been counted, and several polling places ran out of ballots, Anchoragites appear to have rejected Prop 5 which would have added lgbt people to the city's existing nondiscrimination laws. Why, you ask, are basic protections being put to a popularity contest? Because after the Anchorage Assembly passed a similar lgbt bill in 2009, Mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed it. Yesterday, Sullivan was re-elected in a landslide victory. (Sullivan's father was mayor decades ago and he too vetoed a gay rights measure.) Five other former mayors, including Sen. Mark Begich, urged voters to support Prop 5. Read more at the ADN, which claims with 90% of the votes counted 58% were against Prop 5, and the never-surrender queer blog Bent Alaska.