LGBT

Lesbian and gay couples in Alaska are not being treated equally under the state’s Senior Citizen Property Exemption laws.

Alaska married residents 65 years of age or older are exempt from taxation on the first $150,000 of the assessed value of their homes, whether the property is  held in the name of the husband, wife, or both.

Same-sex domestic partners can’t receive the full exemption.  State law treats same-sex partners as roommates and the exemption is reduced.

If You Are:

• In a long-term, committed relationship with your partner AND
• At least one partner is 65 or over AND
• You are living with your partner in a home that one or both of you own

The ACLU of Alaska would like your help in challenging the state’s unequal treatment of same-sex partners. Please contact the LGBT Public Policy Coordinator at akclu@akclu.org or 276-2258 to learn more.

Public employers such as a municipal governments, state agencies, and school districts have an obligation to provide the same benefits to same-sex domestic partners that they provide to spouses. The ACLU of Alaska wants to ensure that all Alaskans are receiving equal benefits, and conducted a survey of all public agencies in the State of Alaska. Click here to read an initial summary of our findings to date, and learn what you can do to receive your benefits or help expand coverage.

Schools have a responsibility to keep students safe – and that includes to be free of harassment, bullying or intimidation based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.  If your school does not take action to protect you from harassment, you can contact the Professional Teaching Practices Commission and file an official complaint, or you may contact the ACLU of Alaska. Click here to read more about you or your child’s rights as a student.

ACLU Conversations: Watch the people who defend our civil liberties discuss what it takes and why they care.

Matt Coles, director of the ACLU LGBT Project, joins the conversation to talk about his life working in gay rights, coming out, surviving the AIDS crisis and fighting for LGBT equality.

This episode contains three video chapters, each four minutes long:

1. Closets and Amendments
2. From AIDS to ACLU
3. Power of Storytelling

Please note that by playing this clip You Tube will place a long-term cookie on your computer. Please see You Tube’s privacy statement on their website to learn more. To view the ACLU’s privacy statement, click here.

Know Your Rights! A Guide for Alaskan LGBT students.
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Are you interested in the concerns of Alaska’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender citizens? Go here to see the results of our LGBT Community Interest Survey.

OP-ED — Where is the love in trying to make gays go straight? by Tiffany McClain, Anchorage Daily News.

Call to testimony for LGBT citizens! Discrimination in Alaska: The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska Wants You to Share Your Story

According to a recent survey, 44% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Alaskans and their allies believe that discrimination is the most pressing social problem affecting their lives personally. Now that we know the numbers, we need your stories to make your experiences real to the people who are in a position to change the law.

In 1989, Identity Inc. published Identity Reports: Sexual Orientation Bias in Alaska, a thorough and eye-opening study that documented incidents of discrimination, violence, and harassment against LGBT people living in our state. It has been almost twenty years since anyone has collected similar testimony and while a lot has changed, we know that anti-LGBT discrimination and harassment persists. This is your opportunity to tell us how.

Share Your Story With Us!

What happened? When? (When did the incident occur? Over how long a period of time?)

Where were you when it happened? (What part of Alaska? At work? At school? In a public place?)

Can we contact you to follow up? (Phone? E-mail? None of your identifying information will be shared without your expressed permission.)

Help Us Make Alaska a Fair and Equitable Place To Live