Lawmakers wrong to reject Phoenix

By any yardstick, the Alaska Legislature embarrassed itself and Alaska when it balked at confirming Gov. Bill Walker's appointee to the Alaska Commission for Human Rights — not because the pick is a bad guy, but because he is pushy transgender guy.

After hostile hearings earlier this month and mostly along party lines — with darned little discussion — the Legislature meeting to confirm a lengthy list of Walker appointments rejected only one, Drew Phoenix. This after the conservative Alaska Family Action group campaigned against his nomination and lawmakers fretted about his advocacy and ACLU ties.

Why did Phoenix get the heave-ho? For many on the political right, he is the quintessential boogeyman, a guy who not only is different, but bumptiously different. A former director of Identity, a statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, he worked for the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska Foundation.

He represents, for many, the cutting edge of frightening change.

[Alaska conservatives target human rights commission appointee]

That change is being felt to our quick. It plays out in clashes over who can and cannot use which bathroom, who will or will not take pictures, or bake wedding cakes or play on which team.

I get it that some of us do not much like others of us. All of that is understandable in a diverse culture and society undergoing pulverizing tectonic social shifts. Different is scary.

What I fail to understand, and never have, is why so many of us flying our political flags would deny others their place in the sun. Every one of us deserves a chance — except Bears fans, of course — to pursue our own interests.

That is a cornerstone of conservatism. It is at the very heart of the U.S. Constitution, where I defy you to find the word "except." Republicans live and breathe it — except when they do not.

Conservatives said they feared Phoenix would support increasing the laundry list of umpteen classes already protected by Alaska law. Discrimination now is barred in "credit and financing practices, in places of public accommodation, in the sale, lease, or rental of real property because of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood."

There is nothing in state law about sexual orientation or gender — more properly sexual — identity, although commissioners have asked lawmakers to add them. Phoenix is seen by some as somebody who would have used his commission seat to push for expansion of the commission's quasi-judicial reach by using "sex" as now included in statute to pull it off — law or no law.

[After weeks of waiting, Legislature OKs most Walker appointees]

That would be a "moral position" best left to lawmakers, Sen. John Coghill, R-North Pole, said. Senate President Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, said he thought the commission was moving to "usurp" the Legislature's authority, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.

Phoenix probably never had a ghost of a chance. When the dust settled, the vote was 35-24, with only two Republicans — Kodiak Sen. Gary Stevens and Homer Rep. Paul Seaton — voting for Phoenix, APRN reported.

All Democratic lawmakers voted for Phoenix, except Golovin Sen. Donny Olson, Bethel Sen. Lyman Hoffman and Kotzebue Rep. Dean Westlake. House independents Jason Grenn of Anchorage and Daniel Ortiz of Ketchikan voted to confirm.

It is easy to disagree about whether the layers-upon-layers of class protections stacked in the law are necessary. Many believe they are not; that they afford extra protections for those listed to the detriment of those not listed.

It also is easy to disagree about whether the LGBT community's demands for rights protections encroach upon others' freedoms. It is not so easy to understand why Phoenix was not allowed to continue on the commission.

If, as conservatives and Republican legislators feared, he planned to push for expansion of the commission's reach to embrace sexual orientation and sexual identity, does that justify denying him a seat? Is that not an argument we should be having?

Would the same questions be raised if an activist, nontransgender Native or African-American or white radical were appointed? If Phoenix ran wild — and there are, mind you, six other commission members — could the Legislature not act?

At the end of the day, Phoenix would have served at the governor's pleasure and could have been dumped at the governor's whim.

Why he was denied a seat is obvious: He is different.

It seems to me the rough, painfully uncomfortable gray areas separating most of us from the rest of us must be ground smoother at some point and we must not shrink from the sparks and cacophony it will produce.

If we believe all of this nation's promises, we should live them and not fear change if it will ensure the rights of all.

One of us is all of us. We are, after all, equals.

Paul Jenkins is editor of the AnchorageDailyPlanet.com, a division of Porcaro communications.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.