Native Movement Blog
Stand up for LGBTQ2 Alaskan Rights
Take Action this Week on
TWO House Bills in the Alaska Legislature
Updated Monday March 13
When the Supreme Court handed down its ruling on Bostock v. Clayton County in 2020 – which found that “sex” as described under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act included sexual orientation and gender identity, and thus protected LGBTQ2 Americans from discrimination–the Alaska State Commission on Human Rights (ASCHR) followed suit, and in 2021, updated their guidelines to institute expanded civil rights protections for, and allow them to field complaints from LGBTQ2 Alaskans in the categories of: employment, housing, credit, government services, and public accommodations.
But recently, under the advice of Alaska’s current attorney general, ASCHR has quietly deleted this expanded set of protections – the reasoning being that ASCHR should only take up employment discrimination claims on the basis of “sex,” since Bostock v. Clayton County was a case about employment discrimination.
Almost immediately, ASCHR has dropped investigations-in-progress, and are no longer fielding complaints pertaining to anything other than workplace discrimination. Because Alaska is one of many states that has yet to enshrine equal protections under statutes, Bostock v. Clayton County once signified a hopeful path forward for marginalized LGBTQ2 Alaskans seeking to live authentically without fear of discrimination.
To quietly strip most of these protections away–as well as options for recourse–is undemocratic, sinister, and hateful. We cannot allow the rights of the LGBTQ2 community to continue to be at the receiving end of a pointless and hateful culture war. We must continue to demand and fight for equal protections under the law that cannot be stripped by the whim of the few.
Sign onto our letter below to let the Dunleavy Administration know that LGBTQ2 Alaskans deserve to live without fear of discrimination, too, and should have equal protections under the law on the basis of sex.
Remember Their Names
On Nov. 20, 2022, five lives were lost, eighteen lives traumatized physically and mentally, and the entire queer community of Colorado Springs, CO and the United States shaken to its core. This is yet another instance of targeted violence against queer and trans bodies, in a larger national trend where 2SLGBTQ bodies are four times more likely to fall victim to violent crimes. That the shooting at Q Club fell on the eve of the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance adds a certain cosmic insult to injury, and added to our collective grief. Our hearts are with the victims, and their blood and chosen families. Say their names with us:
Raymond Greene Vance (he/him)
Kelly Loving (she/her)
Daniel Aston (he/him)
Derrick Rump (he/him)
Ashley Paugh (she/her)
We grieve alongside our queer and trans kin at the lives lost due to institutionalized violence faced by our 2SLGBTQ community all over the world. We rage, not only at the utter inaction of the state to protect our civil rights, but at current leaders who have the power to prevent violence against our bodies and our sacred spaces, as well as gun violence in schools and communities across the country, but choose not to.We deserve better, and we will fight for better. Our collective grief and rage is valid, cathartic, and sacred, and is one of the things that binds us together in our larger movement towards social, political, and economic equality for 2SLGBTQ people in this country. But in the process of reclaiming our bodies and our right to exist equally with others, we must not allow the oppressors to take away the most important thing we have to sustain us in this fight: JOY
Joy as liberation and an authentic celebration of who we are. Joy as a community builder and life-sustaining force for one another. Joy as defiance to institutionalized patriarchy and violence. Joy that we must create, sustain, and pass down to future generations of queer and trans kin, if we are to create a brighter tomorrow for our community.
You can learn more about Trans Day of Remembrance and watch last weeks livestream session here:
Support and Donate to Alaska Orgs that advance belonging and safety for our LGBTQ2S family:
Honoring Survivors
Photo by: Lyndsey Brollini / Native Movement
On Oct. 1, the first day of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a healing totem and panel carved by Wayne Price was unveiled and celebrated in Alaska’s capital city, Juneau. The totem and panel honor survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as well as missing and murdered Indigenous persons and their families and communities.
Alaska has had the highest rate of women killed by men in the nation for seven years now. Alaska Native women bear the brunt of this unacceptable statistic. They are 10 times more likely than white women to be killed.
This is absolutely unacceptable. Domestic and sexual violence are remnants of settler colonialism inflicted on our communities through boarding schools and the taking of Indigenous lands. Healing from historical trauma is extremely hard yet necessary work. We know there are also many healthy and vibrant Alaska Native families who are breaking the cycle.
Photo by: Lyndsey Brollini / Native Movement
This totem and panel remind us that in our work to end domestic and sexual violence in our communities, we must center healing. We must believe victims when they share their stories. We must support bodily autonomy and grow a culture of consent including with our young people. We also know that holding accountability is an act of love in effort to heal as a whole. We must create healing pathways for restorative justice. While we work on systemic issues we also know that the most powerful work begins in our homes and those closest to us.
The story of this totem shows a family of survivors on their healing journey together.
“We uplift all survivors who have courageously come forward and shared their stories. We believe you. This month must be more than just raising awareness- we need actions now. I call on each and every person who reads this to find an actionable item they can do to stop this violence,” said Aqpik Apok, Gender Justice and Healing Director at Native Movement.
The breaking of silence can be the first step on a healing journey. We urge you to find out how you can support the survivors you know. The culture of silence is a barrier to truths being told. Be a safe person for someone experiencing abuse to talk to, and believe survivors when they tell their stories. And if you are a survivor, there are resources you can utilize and people who love you and will support you without judgment.
At the unveiling celebration, people wrote the names of those they want to direct healing towards onto cedar pieces from the healing pole and put them in the fire. Our traditional ways, teachings, and culture offer many healing pathways. We uplift those who have been courageous to share their stories so others can come forward and be heard. The raising of the totem and panel are a beautiful illustration of healing led by our Indigenous people. May we carry that hope and intention forward this month and always.
Photo by: Lyndsey Brollini / Native Movement
Photo by: Lyndsey Brollini / Native Movement
Photos & Story By: Lyndsey Brollini, Native Movement Narrative Coordinator
MMIWG2S+ Alaska Run for Healing + Justice
We invite you to participate and honor Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn, Girls, Two Spirit+ and all relatives through healthy healing. The 3rd annual MMIWG2S+ Alaska Run for Healing, Run for Justice is a virtual 5K run, walk, or other physical activity dedicated to honoring missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and all relatives. This is a free virtual event open to all to share their participation between September 19th-24th. This event is meant to raise awareness and provide a healthy healing activity for our community to join.
Register using this link: https://forms.gle/q8qTqhdGTroooWnq7
To receive your bib and packet.
While this is not a race or competition, you can share your participation in the FB event and registered participants will be entered into a drawing for a swag bag! Check out the FB event each day to see others participation and posts from the working group on how to stay involved!
If you’re in the Anchorage area on September 24th, join us for an in-person participation at 1:00pm at the Alaska Native Heritage Center Lake Tiulana. We are looking for a few volunteers to help us with set-up and breakdown! (Volunteer Form Here). We encourage people to have runs with others in their own communities as well!
Our Rights Won’t Be Taken by Alt-Right SCOTUS
Within the course of a week, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) undermined Tribal sovereignty, opted out of combatting the climate crisis at the federal level, stripped bodily autonomy of people with uteruses, as well as revoked accountability if/when police not issue or honor Miranda rights.These recent decisions make it clear that SCOTUS’s primary purpose is to perpetuate white supremacy and patriarchy.
This is nothing new for Indigenous, Black, brown and LGBTQ2S+ people. This country was founded on genocide, stolen land, and stolen and enslaved peoples — not on the principles and practices of legitimacy, equity or justice. And today, the current majority of SCOTUS judges undoubtedly believe in upholding the original intent of the all-white, slave-owning men who wrote the constitution.
Last week, SCOTUS dealt a blow to tribal sovereignty, ruling that states have “jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians against Indians in Indian country”(Castro-Huerta v. Oklahoma). SCOTUS is rarely a beacon for upholding Tribal Sovereignty, yet the sovereignty and self-determination of Indigenous Nations continues to be inherent, regardless of a colonizer’s approvals.
At the end of last week, SCOTUS ruled the Environmental Protection Agency does not have authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants because Congress has not specifically authorized EPA to do so in the Clean Air Act (West Virginia v. EPA). During a time of increasing climate crisis, SCOTUS is crippling the most basic climate mitigation strategies.
Amongst the onslaught of SCOTUS decisions was the disregard for 50 years of protected bodily autonomy — the right to safe abortion (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization). While this decision is truly staggering and laden with racism, misogyny, transphobia, and classism, many knew this day was coming. Congress has failed to codify abortion rights, and without federal protections, the right to body autonomy for people with uteruses is now subject to the whims of state politics.
The Vega v. Tekoh decision flagrantly reduces the accountability of police when they dishonor the Miranda rights of citizens in police custody. The reduction of accountability means that if taken into questioning, a person can be subjected to unjust interrogating and coercion, which may impact their trial and they would have no avenue for redress to hold police accountable nor change the impact the acts have on a trial. Although the decision does not reduce the obligation to issue Miranda rights, this decision will exacerbate the racist biases that funnel people into the prison industrial complex.
The undermining of Tribal sovereignty, the disregard of the increasing climate crisis and the attack on our rights over our own body’s has long impacted Black, Indigenous, People of Color, queer, and lower income people at disproportionate rates. These recent decisions perpetuate systemic racism further.
These recent decisions were only a few in a SCOTUS storm, and while they may feel like deep losses, we must remember that this was the result of actions by a few and we are many. We are engaged community members – relatives, friends, co-workers and neighbors. We will continue to pick up signs and rally. We will continue to venture into the halls of our local governments. And we will continue to call and write our elected leadership.
We must vote our values, and we will continue to build safety and security for ALL people. Our work to give voice to the rights of Mother Earth and all those who have long been marginalized or disregarded is more urgent than ever.
What Can YOU Do?
Get engaged - Find out who has been organizing in your community already and get involved. People already organizing on these issues need fresh energy. We need you. Host a sign making event, organize your neighbors to visit your elected leadership, and know the candidates in the next elections (local, state, and national).
Work on Healing - It’s okay to feel hurt. We need to move through grief in order to heal. To fight injustice, we must be healthy, whole people. We must continue to take care of each other and our communities during hard times. Particularly as People of Color, Black, Indigenous, queer, and economically oppressed people, healing is not a luxury - it is a necessity. In the words of Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
Donate to Planned Parenthood Alaska: Donate Online Today
Abortion funds: https://www.plancpills.org/donate;
Birthworkers, such as the Alaska Native Native Birthworker Community: https://secure.everyaction.com/IXCe_XZI5kSPSlpzgTdCVQ2
Our human rights and the sovereignty of Native Nations are INHERENT, yet we have witnessed before the rolling back of inherent and hard won rights. We know that we must continue to both advocate for and exercise our rights.
Native Movement believes in grassroots community organizing and the power of people collectively advocating for justice. Native Movement will continue to uphold and acknowledge Native Nation’s sovereignty, fight for our human rights and resist the settler colonial powers that try to suppress our rights.
2022 Post-Legislative Debrief
2021 was a big year for Native Movement, as our team welcomed many new staff members on board–including Rebecca Noblin, Policy Justice Lead, and David Clark, Gender Justice Policy Communications Specialist, who were hired on because of their passions for systems change work, as well as their knack for understanding how political and governmental decisions affect the outcomes and decisions of communities across Alaska. Rebecca and David both had a big year in building out relationships with partner organizations and supporting their grassroots efforts, in addition to helping shape the organization’s systems engagement work. They’re excited to share some highlights from the year below!
Gender Justice and Healing
Native Movement’s Gender Justice and Healing Program focused largely on three main areas of policy: 2S/LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights/MMIWG2, and police accountability and reform.
While we engaged with our partners at Identity Alaska and Freedom For All Americans on H.R. 5, the national Equality Act - which unfortunately stalled in Congress and will likely have to be reintroduced - we were also engaging at the state level on HB 17: The Alaska Equality Act, which would have updated Alaska’s statutory Code of Civil Rights to include gender expression and sexual orientation. We also paid attention to HB 8: Banning Conversion Therapy, which would have outlawed the practice of conversion therapy for Alaskan health care providers, and held strategy conversations with our partners at The Trevor Project on how to best help advance those bills. Native Movement was also successful in helping Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates effectively hinder SB 140: Sex-designated School Sports Teams, which would have effectively banned transgender students from joining the appropriate team for sports; this bill was narrowly defeated on the Senate floor before the Legislature officially adjourned. We also followed and supported partner work, where appropriate, on SJR 4, which if passed would have allowed Alaskan voters to decide whether or not our constitutional right to privacy included the very personal and inalienable right to abortion - an essential reproductive right.
In the arena of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people (MMIWG2), we worked with partners to ensure the passage of the Violence Against Women Act 2022. We were disappointed in the lack of support from Senator Sullivan but appreciated Senator Murkowski’s support. We participated in our MMIWG2 working group’s policy forum in February.
Native Movement is one of the prime sponsors of the Alaska Coalition for Justice (ACJ), a statewide grassroots group that advocates for better police accountability and reform throughout the state of Alaska, which first convened in the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by police. Through policy working group meetings at ACJ, we partnered with ACLU of Alaska, Alaska Black Caucus, and Fairbanks NAACP on spreading the word about the 8 Can’t Wait Legislative Package. This package - a series of Senate bills carried by Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, which later saw companion legislation introduced by Rep. Geran Tarr in the House - followed Campaign Zero’s 8 Can’t Wait policy recommendations, which aim to drastically improve police accountability and reduce instances of police violence. One bill out of the package - SB 7: Public Access to State Trooper Policies - successfully passed the Legislature.
Climate and Environmental Justice
In the 2022 legislative session, Native Movement worked with partners and allies on legislation that has implications for Native rights, climate and environmental justice, democracy, and economic justice. We are happy to report that we made some progress toward building the good, and for the most part we stopped the bad. Here’s how the bills we worked on fared in the 2022 Alaska legislative session.
The Good News
One big victory is that the legislature passed the Tribal Recognition bill (HB123/SB108), and it will now go to the Governor for his signature. This bill requires the State of Alaska to formally recognize all 229 federally-recognized Alaska Native Tribes. It does not grant or expand sovereignty, because sovereignty is inherent and pre-existing, but it codifies a government-to-government relationship between Tribes and the State. It is similar to and consistent with the ballot measure. If the Governor signs the bill or allows it to pass without signature, the ballot measure will be canceled under a provision of the Alaska Constitution that nullifies ballot measures if the Legislature passes a substantially similar law. If Governor Dunleavy vetoes the bill, the measure will remain on the ballot in November.
We also saw the passage of the Broadband bill (HB363). If signed into law by the Governor, this bill will allow Alaska to take advantage of federal infrastructure money coming to the state to improve broadband. The bill that will create a broadband office and advisory board to implement the build-out of broadband in Alaska. For all Alaskans, especially rural Alaskans, broadband can help every facet of life, especially during a pandemic, where we rely on remote connections to sustain ourselves without being at risk. Adequate accessible broadband improves health outcomes, increases educational opportunities, increases public safety, supports economic innovation and infrastructure, and improves civic engagement.
Another victory is stopping legislation that would have housed a green bank at AIDEA. The AIDEA Green Bank bill (HB170/SB123 aka Dunleavy’s greenwashed bank) would have created an entity within the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) that would finance energy efficiency upgrades and renewable energy installations. This entity, or green bank, is a model for leveraging state funds with private sector capital. While we theoretically support the idea of a green bank, we are highly distrustful of AIDEA’s ability to properly manage such a fund. Thankfully, the AIDEA green bank did not pass, and supporters of the measure acknowledged at the end of the session that AIDEA is not the appropriate entity to house Alaska’s green bank. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that Alaska gets the green bank it deserves, one that is transparent, accountable, and prioritizes community-driven projects in rural Alaska, which is not possible to do within AIDEA as it currently exists.
In addition to the AIDEA greenwashed bank, there is a whole slew of bad Dunleavy bills that we helped stop. These include:
Repeal of salmon stream protections (SB97) – This Dunleavy bill sought to give the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) the power to authorize commercial development on any state land regardless of its status—refuge or park or otherwise. It also sought to repeal the Recreational River statutes that protect six popular and anadromous Mat-Su rivers: the Little Susitna River, the Deshka River, the Talkeetna River, Lake Creek, Alexander Creek, and the Talachulitna River.
Directional drilling into Kachemak Bay (HB82) – This Dunleavy bill would have authorized subsurface natural gas drilling and development in Kachemak Bay, which is currently off-limits to oil and gas development.
Increased timber sales on state lands (HB98) – This Dunleavy bill would have increased DNR’s power to offer state forest land for timber harvest. The state canceled a large timber sale due to an appeal to a Forest Land Use Plan in 2017 - Forest land use plans, also known as FLUPs, are one of the final steps before a harvest moves forward. FLUPs provide guidelines like harvest methods and mitigation measures and serve as a last opportunity for public comment and agency consultation. HB 98 would have made FLUPs non-appealable or subject to reconsideration.
We also helped beat back the Dunleavy administration’s push to take over wetlands development permitting from the federal government. The proposed allocation of 4.9 million dollars in the Governor’s budget would initiate a process where the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) would assume “primacy” from the federal Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) over permitting development activities that impact wetlands protected under section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This would have led to less Tribal consultation, less analysis and public participation, reduced ability to litigate bad wetlands decisions, and a high cost to the state. Thanks to the hard work of our partners and the public, we were able to reduce the budget allocation to 1 million dollars to fund a study, with no allocation for permanent employees.
The Not-So-Good News
Unfortunately, one of Dunleavy’s bad bills did get through–the Microreactors bill (HB299/SB177). This bill will encourage nuclear energy development in Alaska by eliminating the current statutory requirement that the legislature be involved in designating land for nuclear microreactors. The entire nuclear fuel chain is destructive, dirty, and dangerous. Nuclear energy, even in the form of microreactors, is a false solution to climate change, and it has no place in Alaska. We are disappointed this bill passed, but the good news is that nuclear microreactors remain very costly and there are none currently in existence. We will continue to fight false solutions like nuclear energy in Alaska.
Additionally, several bills we supported did not get passed in this session.
Our partners at Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) worked very hard to pass the PFAS Use and Remediation bill (HB171/SB121), and we were there to support this important work. HB 171 and SB 121 would have required greater protections for communities by preventing and addressing PFAS contamination, including setting of enforceable drinking water standards for a number of PFAS as well as requirements for polluters to pay for safe drinking water and blood tests for people affected by PFAS contamination. As our friends at ACAT reported, “In total, HB 171 and SB 121 had nine full hearings, which included hours of public and invited testimony. . . . We saw a lot of action and interest from legislators from all political leanings, and they worked together to come to an agreement by making amendments. We held rallies and press conferences, released scientific and community reports, and folks gained a greater understanding of PFAS as a public health crisis in Alaska. What’s more, our good trouble did not go unnoticed, as several articles were published in news sources across the state and on television.” While we were disappointed this important legislation did not pass in 2022, we will continue to work with ACAT to address PFAS pollution in Alaska.
We also did not see the passage of the AIDEA Reform bill (HB271) - HB 271 would have added public accountability reforms to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority. It would have increased the terms of board members; required that the board pass legislative confirmation; increased public notice and testimony opportunities; and required additional reporting and accountability. We always knew that getting this bill passed would be a long-shot, but it provided a great opportunity to highlight how problematic AIDEA is.
Another bill that did not pass that we would have liked to see pass with amendments was the Renewable Portfolio Standards for Utilities bill (SB179/HB301). This legislation would have established a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) in Alaska’s Railbelt region, the interconnected power grid from Fairbanks to the Kenai Peninsula. The legislation proposed that electric utilities on the railbelt generate energy from renewable resources following a timeline that would get us to 80 percent renewables by 2040. It would have supported solar and wind energy to transition away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, it also allowed for large hydropower projects such as the Susitna-Wantana Dam, which can have serious consequences for fish passage and other wildlife. We would like to see renewable portfolio standards that do not promote large-scale hydropower, and we will continue to work for a transition to energy that is truly renewable and just.
Finally, the Bill to limit governor’s appropriation power (HB177) had a mixed outcome. House Bill 177 sought to uphold the legislature’s Constitutional power of appropriation by limiting the authority granted to the governor in statute to amend the budget by receiving and expending additional money that becomes available after the budget has been passed by the legislature. This bill would have ensured that federal funds that come in through such federal legislation as the infrastructure bill would not go directly to the governor and instead go through the legislature for appropriation. Although this bill did not pass, through the budget process the legislature ensured that it retains the right to appropriate any such funds that come in before the 2023 legislative session.
Thank you to all our partners and supporters who worked alongside
us to build the good and stop the bad.
What will Native Movement’s policy team be up to over the summer? We will be working with our partners at the AKCES Table, Native People’s Action, and other organizations to ensure that our communities have as much information as possible about this fall’s primary and general elections, which will employ the ranked choice voting method that was approved by Alaskan voters during the 2020 general election. We will also be working with partners to dream up the proactive legislation we want to see in the next legislative session. Want to stay up-to-date on what we’re up to and how you can get involved? Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media!