Day of Silence 2012 observed this Friday, as another gay teen is mourned

Posted on Thursday, 19 April 2012 by Melissa S. Green

Day of Silence 2012Day of Silence in protest of  the bullying and silencing of LGBT students and their allies is being observed on Friday, April 20,  in high schools and colleges throughout the nation — including, in Alaska, UAF and UAA.

By tragic happenstance, this year’s Day of Silence follows on the death  by suicide last Saturday of 14-year-old Kenneth James Weishuhn, Jr. of Primghar, Iowa, who was bullied relentlessly on Facebook and in school after coming out as gay last month.  Weishuhn’s funeral was held earlier today. According to today’s Des Moines Register:

The bullying that began at school continued online and included a Facebook group (that has since been altered or deleted) as well as nasty comments on Weishuhn’s photos posted on his own Facebook page.

About 20 disturbing voice mails were left on Weishuhn’s cellphone — threats of violence from a male voice that sounded intentionally disguised, [his 16-year-old sister] Kayla said.

Some reader comments on the above story provide perfect illustration of the silencing of LGBT youth that Day of Silence was founded to protest.  One commenter wrote:

Hey John….ever think if this boy had stayed in the closet he’d still be alive? His death can be blamed on the media and current television sitcoms who are preaching a nationwide agenda of gay is en vogue. No matter how much the media tries to preach “gay is o.k”. it’s not going to be met with wide open arms of approval. Maybe in a 100 years from now….

Another commenter replied:

Your comment only show’s one thing.. hate…. sorry your full of hate… sorry someone has blackened your heart. This young teen took his life because of the hate he felt and heard around him. Being cyber bullied is a new era.. but it is the PARENTS who taught their children to hate and this is wrong. Kenneth’s parents taught their child that it was okay to be [who he was]… and if more parents did this…a better world it would be.

Day of Silence is the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) annual day of action, in which high school and college students take a day-long vow of silence to protest bullying and harassment of LGBT students and their supporters. It was started in 1996 by students at the University of Virginia responding to a class assignment on non-violent protests. Over 150 students participated that year. The following year, organizers took their effort nationally: nearly 100 colleges and universities participated. GLSEN, the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students, became the official organizational sponsor for Day of Silence in 2001. Day of Silence has been observed each year in the month of April since 1996.

The 2009 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools (GLSEN)According to GLSEN’s 2009 National School Climate Survey, 9 out of 10 LGBT students reported experiencing verbal, sexual, or physical harassment at school, and more than 30 percent report missing at least a day of school in the month prior to being surveyed out of fear for their personal safety.

Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey: Final ReportAvailable Alaska-specific data are equally disturbing. The final report of the Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey, published last month, found that 41 percent of its 268 respondents reported having been bullied or harassed by other students in Anchorage schools, and 14.2 percent said they had been bullied or harassed by Anchorage teachers because of sexual orientation or gender identity/presentation. Seventeen respondents (16.3%) reported actually having to leave school because of harassment. (Actual experience of bullying/harassment in Anchorage schools may be even higher, given that many of the survey’s respondents had never attended the Anchorage schools they were asked about. There is no current data available specific to other Alaska schools.)

Table 25. Experience of Discrimination in School/Education of Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey Respondents

Table 25. Experience of Discrimination in School/Education of Anchorage LGBT Discrimination Survey Respondents. "Cisgender" refers to non-transgender lesbian, gay, and bisexual respondents. Click through for a larger version of the table.

But, as GLSEN points out, LGBT students aren’t the only students affected by antigay and antitrans namecalling and bullying. Non-transgender straight kids are often targets of anti-LGBT slurs too:

Anti-LGBT bullying and harassment affects all students. Slurs such as “faggot” and “dyke” are commonplace in school. The Day of Silence is an example of students, from middle school to college, working together proactively to bring attention to the anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment experienced by LGBT and straight students alike.

The goal of Day of Silence is make schools safer for all students, whether or not they are LGBT.

Learn more about Day of Silence from GLSEN’s Day of Silence website.

Day of Silence events in Alaska

Here are some Day of Silence events that Bent Alaska has been made aware of. Bent Alaska expects that GSAs at many Alaska schools have also organized Day of Silence observances.

Anchorage: UAA Safe Zone “Day of Silence” Information Table at UAA Student Union and Gorsuch Commons

As part of its week-long SafeZone Celebration Week, University of Alaska Anchorage is holding informational tables about Day of Silence on Thursday, April 19: how it works, and how you can support it or become involved. For further info, visit UAA Safe Zone’s Facebook page, or its home page at University of Alaska Anchorage.

  • Date/time: Thursday, April 19, 11 AM-1:30 PM
  • Location: 2nd Floor Main Hallway, UAA Student Union, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3211 Providence Drive, Anchorage (see map)
  • Date/time: Thursday, April 19, 4:30-7:30 PM
  • Location: Gorsuch Commons, University of Alaska Anchorage, 3700 Sharon Gagnon Ln, Anchorage, AK (see map)

Fairbanks:  Break The Silence: MELT! (& poetry slam) at UAF Wood Center

Break the Silence: Melt"Melt" by Derick BurlesonFollowing the day-long observance of Day of Silence on Friday, April 20, the UAF Gay Straight Alliance is putting on a Break the Silence event which will include a reading and book signing by Dr. Derick Burleson, professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at University of Alaska Fairbanks, for his new book Melt.

They are also holding a poetry slam at 7:30, the winner of which will receive a copy of Burleson’s new book.

  • Date/time: Friday, April 20, 5:00-8:00 PM
  • Location: UAF Wood Center, 811 Yukon Dr, Fairbanks, AK (see map)
  • Further info: see Facebook events page
Posted in Anchorage, Events, Fairbanks, Friends & allies, This Week, University of Alaska | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Celebration of Change 2012: Moving Forward — this Saturday at UAA

Posted on Wednesday, 18 April 2012 by Bent Alaska

Celebration of Change 2012: Moving ForwardCelebration of Change, the annual celebration of Alaska women’s art, music, poetry, dance, and humor will take place this Saturday, April 21, at UAA’s Wendy Williamson Auditorium.

Celebration of Change is an annual show by (and fundraiser for) Radical Arts for Women (RAW), a lesbian and feminist philanthropic organization which funds Alaskan women art projects. It is respectfully an all-women produced and performed show aimed to give Alaskan women a venue to learn skills in event production and encourage their individual artistic talents.

Although it is respectfully an all-women produced and performed show aimed to give Alaska women a venue to learn skills in event production and encourage their individual artistic talents, ALL are welcome to attend — so invite your friends, partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, and husbands! Just keep the children at home, for this is an “at your own risk” performance for the mature audience.

This year’s line up includes female artists including Leslie Ward, Hilary Morgan, Ever Ready Band, Barbara Wish, Melissa Mitchell, Gail Jackson, Susan Brakeall, Jill Ramsey, Dolores Catherino, Kippy Lanz, Outskirtz Banned, Shelby Wilson, Charlotte Horne, Maureen Suttman, Stacy Uptegraft, Deb DeProspero, and Trish Shands!

  • Date/time: Saturday, April 21.7:00 PM
  • Location: Wendy Williamson Auditorium, University of Alaska Anchorage, 2533 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK (see map)
  • Cost of admission: $15.00 in advance, $20.00 at the door. Tickets on sale at Metro Books and Music (530 E. Benson Blvd; see map)
  • Further info: see Facebook event page or Radical Arts for Women (RAW) website
Posted in Anchorage, Comedy, Dance, Events, Music, Poetry, This Week | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Anchorage election: Duke confirms she told election workers not to worry about broken security seals on voting machines

Posted on Tuesday, 17 April 2012 by Melissa S. Green
Deputy Municipal Clerk Jacqueline Duke answers questions at the April 13 Anchorage Assembly work session on April 3 election irregularities. Photo courtesy The Mudflats.

Deputy Municipal Clerk Jacqueline Duke answers questions at the April 13 Anchorage Assembly work session on April 3 election irregularities. Photo courtesy The Mudflats.

by Mel Green

Anchorage Deputy Municipal Clerk Jacqueline Duke has confirmed an election worker’s report that she instructed election workers not to worry about broken security seals on the Diebold AccuVote voting machines used in the April 3 Anchorage election, according to a story published this morning on The Brad Blog. Duke’s instruction directly contradicts instructions in the election handbook, and creates additional questions about the integrity of the election process.

The Brad Blog is a national blog with a focus on election integrity. Its publisher and executive editor, Brad Friedman, is an investigative journalist/blogger, political commentator, broadcaster, author, and Commonweal Institute Fellow. Friedman’s story this morning followed up on a story published on the Alaska blog The Mudflats, which, like Bent Alaska, has been closely scrutinizing the April 3 election irregularities.

The Mudflats reported Sunday about an interview with election worker Wendy Isbell about instructions given by Jacqueline Duke to election workers when they were being trained:

According to Isbell, Duke told the trainees at the session she attended that (paraphrasing) ‘if the seal over the memory card was broken when they picked up the Accu-Vote machine they should not be concerned. The seals break all the time.’ Further, Isbell states that the seal on the Diebold machine for her precinct was, in fact, broken.

Duke’s instruction directly contradicts instructions contained in the Municipality of Anchorage’s official election handbook, which state:

Make sure the small silver bar covering the memory card on the front of the Accu-Vote is sealed and the seal is not broken.

"Make sure the small silver bar covering the memory card on the front of the Accu-Vote is sealed and the seal is not broken." Instructions from the official MOA election handbook.

Brad Friedman told The Mudflats that day,

If and when any seal on these machines are broken they are to be immediately taken out of service and quarantined for forensic investigation.  If that is not already the law in AK or Anchorage, then it is a grave security hole in the law.

Anyone who instructs someone to not report a broken seal and use such a machine anyway should be investigated for malfeasance, misfeasance and/or criminal election fraud.

In today’s story at The Brad Blog, Friedman pointed out exactly why the plastic security seals are so important:

Plastic seals over memory cards — the extremely sensitive cartridges that hold the ballot design and track the election results tallied from the scanned paper ballots throughout the day — became a mandatory security precaution in the wake of the shocking 2005 hack of a mock election in Leon County, FL which succeeded in completely flipping the results of the election in such a way that one would never know it had been manipulated unless all of the paper ballots were counted by hand.

That startling hack was accomplished by tampering with the memory card before the election. It was all captured on film in HBO’s Emmy-nominated 2006 documentary Hacking Democracy. Here’s the actual hack, as it happened, as seen in the film…

Friedman goes on to report on the conversation he had with Duke yesterday:

Duke confirmed to me that she had instructed poll workers not to worry if security seals on memory cards are found broken when setting up machines on Election Day.

“They come sealed in the Accuvote cases and often times in transit they bust off because they’re the flimsiest pieces of plastic ever,” she told me. Sometimes that leads poll workers to “freak out.”

She tells them that if they “open the case and can obviously tell the broken seal was from transport, you do not have to be worried. There are more in your supplies.”

Duke instructs the workers to “re-seal it, and then run the zero report tape” to “confirm that your poll count is zero.”

In the Leon County hack, as seen in Hacking Democracy, the zero report tape before the mock election also showed that the poll count was zero. That’s because when the memory card was hacked before the mock election, the “No” votes were set to -5 and the “Yes” votes were set to +5. Thus, when the machine reported how many votes were already on it at the beginning of the election, the answer came back as 0. That’s how the election was flipped. The results to the mock election question about whether Diebold machines could be hacked via their memory cards were completely flipped when the “Yes” votes were reduced by 5 and the “No” votes were increased by 5.

When I asked Duke if she’d seen Hacking Democracy she flatly stated “no.”

“We don’t talk to them [poll workers] about conspiracy theories or about how Diebold machines were hacked.”

She insisted the memory cards were not accessible during the election, so no “voters” could possibly access them during the day.

“No one has access to the memory cards,” she explained. “Only the Municipal Board staff, the Testing Board and then, theoretically, they are locked after that.”

She then confirmed that the Accuvotes are sent home for days before the election with poll workers, who have unfettered access to the machines and the memory cards before transporting them to the polls on Election Day.

[emphases added]

If “voting machine sleepovers” at poll workers’ homes lead to broken security seals, no problem: Duke’s instruction to election workers was

to simply put another seal over it on election morning — instead of taking the machines out of service, as is required in California and other jurisdictions in the event of a broken memory seal — run a zero test, and then get on with the election.

The potential for vote tampering by is obvious — and whether intentional or not, Duke’s instruction to election workers to disregard broken security seals serves to make discovery of any such tampering less likely.

When interviewed by Friedman, Duke claimed ignorance of any problems with Diebold AccuVote machines, as did Election Commission chair Gwen Matthew, who also spoke with Friedman — this in spite of widely documented problems with the machines (described in both the Mudflats and the Brad Blog stories), including a years-long lawsuit in Alaska about the (lack of) integrity of the 2004 statewide elections.

These are (two of) the officials entrusted with guaranteeing the integrity of our election process. Whether out of malfeasance or out of willful blindness and/or incompetence: they have failed.

Was Prop 5 flipped?

Friedman points out:

Just days before the election, a poll [PDF] by the conservative firm of Dittman Research & Communications found the incumbent Republican Mayor Dan Sullivan likely to defeat his Democratic opponent Paul Honeman, 56% to 35%. The same poll, however, showed Prop 5 set to win 50% to 41% with 9% of respondents still undecided.

On the night of the election, Sullivan was reported as the winner of his race by the paper-ballot Diebold optical-scan systems. The margin was 59% to 38%, pretty close to the results Dittman had predicted. Several bond initiatives on the ballot also reportedly passed, by even larger margins.

Yet Prop 5 was said to have gone down in flames. According to the Diebold results that night, it lost 58% to 42% — a full 25-point swing from Dittman’s pre-election poll just days earlier.

[emphasis in original]

So… maybe so.

But Proposition 5 is not the most important question of this highly irregular, and very possibly corrupted, election.  The integrity of all elections are at risk — not only in Anchorage, but in the state as a whole.

Alaska election integrity at risk

Although these problems come — again — to light by way of a local election in the Municipality of Anchorage, make no mistake: this is a statewide issue.  Friedman writes:

According to the Verifier Database at the non-partisan e-voting watchdog site VerifiedVoting.org, the Diebold Accuvote op-scan system is used in more than 1,000 jurisdictions in the U.S., across all or parts of 24 different states. Of course, it will be used once again to tally paper ballots for the 2012 Presidential Election in all or parts of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin (including in next month’s recall elections) and Wyoming.

"Hacking Democracy" — HBO documentary on the election integrity in the age of electronic voting machinesThis brings even more urgency to the need for a independent investigation of the April 3 Anchorage election irregularities, including a thorough investigation of the Municipal Clerk’s office.

There also needs to be a full audit and recount by hand of paper ballots and the chain of custody of those ballots.

And it’s time to get the easily tampered-with Diebold AccuVote machines out of Alaska’s elections.  Write to your Assembly members.  But write to your state legislators, too — no matter where in Alaska you live.

Bent Alaska will be livetweeting again (@bentalaska) from tonight’s Anchorage Assembly meeting, where it is expected that Assembly members will again take up the question of appointing a special counsel to investigate the April 3 Anchorage election.

References

Photos courtesy The Mudflats.
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2012 Alaska Pride Young Adult Recognition Award: Nominations due Friday, April 20

Posted on Monday, 16 April 2012 by Bent Alaska

Alaska Pride Fest 2012: Be Seen Be Heard Be PrideNominations for the Alaska Pride Young Adult Recognition Award are due Friday, April 20. Nomination forms are available at the Alaska Pride website.

The Alaska Pride Young Adult Recognition Award promotes the contribution of young people in the fight for LGBTQ and gender equality in our schools and communities. This recognition award is open to any Alaskan age 18-26.

The recipients of this award will be recognized throughout Pride Week as individuals who are creating positive change in Alaska. Each award recipient will act as an ambassador to Anchorage’s 2012 Alaska Pride Week and will receive their recognition award at Alaska Pride Festival in Anchorage on June 9, 2012. Community members are encouraged to nominate youth from the across state of Alaska.

Nominees should be individuals who:

  • Have been involved in a group, activity or action that has promoted equality and respect in their school or community;
  • Have advocated for LGBT rights and/or gender equality;
  • Are not employed (paid) to conduct this advocacy or or outreach for the LGBT community;
  • Are Alaska residents from 18 to 26 years of age.
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Sara’s News Roundup 4/16/12: The roots of antigay hostility

Posted on Monday, 16 April 2012 by Bent Alaska

The roots of antigay hostility; coming out in a supportive family is good for LGB health; transition-related medical expenses are tax-deductible; and other recent LGBTQ news selected by Sara Boesser in Juneau, Alaska (supplemented by additional info gathered by Bent Alaska).

1) Study examines the roots of homophobia
USA TODAY, April 9, 2012

Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at University of RochesterA new study suggests intense hostility toward homosexuals may be linked to a repressed same-sex attraction, combined with an authoritarian upbringing.

Though such factors are not the only cause of homophobia, the findings suggest those “who have a discrepancy within themselves about their expressed vs. unconscious sexual attraction find gay and lesbian people more threatening and are more likely to express prejudice and discrimination toward them,” says University of Rochester psychology professor Richard Ryan, co-author of the study….

The study was conducted by a team from the University of Rochester, the University of Essex, England, and the University of California in Santa Barbara. Additional information about the study is available from the University of Rochester. Or read the study here:

Study coauthor Richard M. Ryan, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester, discusses the study in this video:

2) Study: Women More Affected By the Closet Than Men
Advocate, April 14, 2012

A study of lesbian, gay and bisexual people up to age 64 found that if parents were supportive of their children when coming out, usually in their twenties, they went on to live healthier lives.

The full study can be read here:

3) IRS Affirms that Transition-Related Care is Tax Deductible
Advancing Transgender Equality

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has affirmed that transgender people can deduct their hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery expenses.  This announcement indicates that the IRS will follow the U.S. Tax Court’s 2010 ruling in O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner, which held that gender identity disorder (GID) is a medical condition, and transgender people receiving hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery as treatment for GID may deduct these costs as medical expenses.

4) Obama comes out against Minn. anti-gay amendment
Washington Blade, April 9, 2012

The Obama campaign has officially stated that the president’s opposition to “divisive and discriminatory” measures targeting LGBT families extends to a pending anti-gay marriage ballot initiative in Minnesota.

5) ‘The Homosexuals’: Mike Wallace’s controversial 1967 CBS report gets second viewing online
Yahoo News, April 10, 2012

Mike Wallace’s legendary career in journalism is being remembered this week, following the death of the ”60 Minutes” icon on Saturday at 93. One video currently making the rounds online is “The Homosexuals,” Wallace’s controversial 1967 report that aired on CBS….

The report is “now impossible to watch without cringing,” The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf wrote.

Wikipedia has a pretty good backstory on the episode, one which Wallace later regretted.

“I should have known better,” he said in 1992.

6) Catholic Bishops Make “Reprehensible” Move, Washington Senator Says
Washington state, Advocate, April 9, 2012

Bishops of the Catholic Church are mobilizing their parishes to repeal the new marriage equality law in Washington, a move the gay state senator who helped push for it there calls “reprehensible.”

7) Trump to Allow All Trans Women to Compete in Miss Universe
Advocate, April 10, 2012

Thanks to the urging of GLAAD, Donald Trump’s Miss Universe organization is in the process of changing their rules to allow transgender women to compete for the crown.

The new policy comes after transgender contestant Jenna Talackova sued after being disqualified from the Miss Universe Canada contest. Talackova was later allowed to compete by Miss Universe officials.

8) Archbishop panel member believes gay people can ‘change’ sexual desire
U.K., Guardian, April 9, 2012

A leading member of the Church of England who believes some gay people can be counselled to suppress or possibly change their sexual orientation is helping to select the next archbishop of Canterbury.

9) Chaz Bono First Transgender Recipient of Prestigious GLAAD Award
Advocate, April 10, 2012

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation named Chaz Bono today as the first-ever transgender recipient of its Stephen F. Kolzak Award, which is presented to an openly LGBT media professional who has made a significant difference in promoting equality.

10) Enough With The Sad-Gay Movies, Says Critic
Village Voice, April 11, 2012

"Screen Savers II: My Grab Bag of Classic Movies" by John DiLeo“I think I’m done with the sad-gay man drama,” writes film critic John DiLeo in his new book of essays.

Mind you, DiLeo raved about Brokeback Mountain, loved Sean Penn’s performance in Milk, and admired a lot about A Single Man.

But he’s right in pointing out that it would be nice to also have more contemporary gay scenarios filmed, ones with gay characters who actually live at the end of the film.

Posted in News, Research | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bent News, 2012-04-15: Hate crime convictions in eastern Kentucky

Posted on Sunday, 15 April 2012 by Bent Alaska News Team

First convictions under the the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act; updated policy for gender markers on immigration documents; and other Bent Alaska news of the day.

Hate crime guilty pleas in eastern Kentucky

Two women plead guilty in a case involving the first known application of the Matthew Shephard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. The women aided and abetted the kidnapping and assault of a gay man by two men to whom they are related; the men were indicted last week on charges of conspiracy, kidnapping and committing an act of violence based on the victim’s sexual orientation.

Policy update for gender markers on immigration documents

U.S. policy on immigration document gender designations for transgender people has been updated to align with the U.S. State Department’s passport policy, which does not require sex reassignment surgery.

RT @sdgln: Victory for #transgender immigration documents and marriage benefits http://t.co/lKjbYnbR  #

Other news

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Anchorage Assembly work session on April 3 election irregularities: The livetweets

Posted on Saturday, 14 April 2012 by Melissa S. Green

by Mel Green

Anchorage Assembly work session on April 3 election irregularities.On Friday, April 13, I I was one of many concerned Anchorage voters who went to the Anchorage Assembly chambers in the Loussac Library to observe the Assembly’s work session on the numerous irregularities of the April 3 municipal election. I was there to livetweet the session (@bentalaska); I’ll write more about the meeting on Sunday.

I used the hashtags #election and #fb (which sends Selective Tweets to Bent Alaska’s Facebook wall); I’ve removed them from this compilation to reduce clutter.

Barbara Gruenstein calls for independent investigation

One piece of early news: Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein wrote a letter to the Anchorage Assembly seconding the call from the ACLU of Alaska for an independent investigation of the April 3 election. She wrote,

I am recommending that Anchorage engage an independent investigator to review the recent April 3, 2012 Municipal Election. Hopefully, a report from an independent source will serve to add clarity to the issues which arose during the election. I have every confidence in the ability of the Municipal Attorney and this office to conduct an impartial investigation. However the public has been exposed to a mix of fact, rumor and speculation regarding the election, and an independent investigation will provide analysis to the public and this body.

The Clerk’s Office would assist such an independent investigation in any way requested.

Pre-session tweets

  • RT @yksin: I’ll be livetweeting today’s Anchorage Assembly work session at Loussac Library @bentalaska. So… #ff I guess. // & here I am #
  • Muni library’s wifi is puny today, Citizen Access not on at all. #
  • Loussac Lib says its wifi having probs today. So tweeting from Assembly work session today counts on GCI’s 3G network. #
  • Anchorage Assembly is assembling. I’d say about 40 people here observing so far, more trickling in. Dan Sullivan here too. #fb #

Work session called to order; agenda explained

  • Assembly work session called to order. Ossiander explaining how they work. Explaining who responsible for elections: Assembly. #
  • Agenda explained. Elvi Gray-Jackson says there is a petition of 400 just wants to present it. Ossiander testy. #

Here was the agenda:

Agenda of the April 13 Anchorage Assembly work session on irregulariities of the April 3 municipal election.

Election Commission

Gwen Matthew, chair of the Election Commission, was first to be questioned by Assembly members.

  • Chair of Election Commission describing process so far. Questioned ballots (qb) not yet opened #
  • All qb & absentee ballots verified to ensure voters qualified before envelopes opened. None opened yet. #
  • Preliminary #s over 500 qb’s rejected so far. #
  • RT @kswannKTVA: Election Comm. says public misinformed abt process…if registered somewhere else in AK and move to Anc, must reregister #
  • RT @kswannKTVA: Ballot shortages “made us tremendously more careful about our processes.”-election comm. #
  • RT @adn_kylehopkins: Petition circulating today at election work session Calls for external audit of election. 400 sigs so far #
  • ADN & KTVA also have people tweeting here see my live tweets. Bloggers from @Mudflats here too. #
  • Election Commission singing praises of Diebolt AccuVote machines. Numerous probs w those machines reported nationwide. #
  • Election Commission chair praise abt “smart machines” in itself makes this election really questionable, IMO. #election #fb #
  • Questions abt various kinds of ballots being used. #
  • RT @kswannKTVA: Bill Starr turns discussion to AccuVote machines..election comm. says it’s “impossible for them to go haywire.” #

Municipal Clerk’s office

The Assembly heard from Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein and Deputy Clerk Jacqueline Duke.

  • Now to hear from Municipal Clerk’s office. #
  • Barbara Gruenstein muni clerk sent Assembly letter also calling for independent investigation of #election #
  • Deputy muni clerk Jacqueline Duke also here. #
  • 143,000 ballots were printed of diff kinds, 72,350 distributed to precincts. #
  • 63,000 left over at end of day… We’re confused by #s #
  • Assembly were supplied w notebooks w spreadsheets & other info from muni clerk & attorney. I’d love to see one. #election #fb #
  • Drummond says there were 1000s of ballots stored at Loussac Lib in unlocked room throughout election. #
  • Trying to account for those undistributed ballots from Loussac library. I can’t sort it all in my head yet. #
  • RT @kswannKTVA: Crowd in Assembly chambers.Traini: they may reconsider special counsel request next mtg. http://t.co/K7jEuHax  #
  • Deputy clerk conducted all training sessions of abt 2.5 hrs apiece. Not all people required to attend training did. #election #fb #
  • Some who didn’t attend were previous election workers, given election handbook & allowed to work. #election #fb #
  • Ossiander asks abt troubleshooter failures during #election Previous workers but no extra training. #
  • ESS Labor Services did hiring & payroll, nothing more, acc to deputy clerk. #
  • I was told by 3 diff people abt election workers the knew told at training that precincts wd get fewer ballots than usual. #
  • Assembly now asking bc they have heard from many election workers abt fewer ballots than usual. #
  • Elections Manual section on troubleshooting (I’m looking at one now) says NOTHING abt running out of ballots. #
  • Manual tells troubleshooters what to do abt tsunami warnings, but NOTHING abt ballot shortages!!! #
  • Muni clerks office had 12 runners in place. #
  • Ossiander says Assembly heard fr many election workers who couldn’t get troubleshooter help or new ballots from runners… #
  • … & workers reporting not getting through to city hall. #
  • Ref to Jim Minnery’s “register & vote same day anywhere you want” misinformation. #
  • 139 voter registrations on election day. But if you are unregistered & vote questioned ballot, state will auto register you. #
  • I think Duke just said precincts ran out of voter registration materials. #
  • Unable to assess complete impact of Minnery misinformation yet. #
  • Bill Starr asking abt why a troubleshooter took 25 of 50 remaining ballots from 1 precinct to take to another. #
  • There are some questions that cannot be thoroughly answered yet. #
  • Harriet Drummond has screenshots from Mayor’s web page telling voters to stay in place. Muni clerk didn’t know abt this. #
  • Muni Clerks office knows of no people being turned away from polls or of precincts being closed early. #
  • (but THERE have been numerous reports about people being turned away even by people claiming to be poo workers in parking lots) #
  • Muni attorney Dennis Wheeler now on the hot seat. Talking abt info in notebooks given to Assembly members. #
  • OOPs! (but THERE have been numerous reports about people being turned away by people claiming to be POLL workers in parking lots) #
  • RT @907natalie: @bentalaska tee hee “poo workers.” // thx for catching that! As usual when tweeting, I’m all thumbs! #
  • RT @907natalie: @bentalaska live tweeting is rough! // esp. when body catches up to all coffee I drank but dont want to miss anything! #
  • Lack of wifi is creating tweeting difficulties. #
  • Finally! Citizen_Access wifi finally came online. #
  • Troubleshooting section of Muni election handbook accounts for tsunami warnings, but not ballot shortages. # http://t.co/cmrBXSrI #

Troubleshooting section of Muni election handbook accounts for tsunami warnings, but not ballot shortages. #electionfail

  • Anchorage Assembly work session on April 3 election irregularities. http://t.co/ZRNdH6bx #
  • Assembly work session ending shortly. People who were kept from voting need to contact muni clerks office pronto. #
  • Assembly member Ernie Hall: we may have final count by end of next week. #
  • Ernie Hall: in a better position to evaluate question of 3rd party (independent special) counsel . #
  • Assembly work session adjourned. #

Post-session tweets

  • Wheeler claimed only 17 people contacted muni clerk saying they couldnt vote. Much disbelief from observers. #election#
  • RT @kska: Assembly Digs Into Election Mess, Weighs Investigation http://t.co/gPJ2oUzM — Ossiander “leaning toward” independent review #

Friday evening wrap-up

My later wrap-up of the day posted on Bent’s Facebook wall:

Since the Assembly work session, I’ve had three long conversations with friends/contacts about what we learned today & then some. I have hit the wall (of my exhaustion) about three or four times today. I had intended to write an update post tonight, but I don’t have the whatsit to do it….

Meantime, I have at least been reading the news accounts. Looks like there is more likely to be Assembly support for an independent investigation. The question is: how far will it go. My biggest concern at this point is the song of praise that the Election Commission chair sang for the highly suspect Diebold AccuVote (misnomer) voting machines. Some of us were wondering how much she was getting paid to make that little commercial. But of course that’s just one concern in this highly irregular election. As I said earlier, I’m 95% convinced it was an election hampered not just by screwups, but also by corruption both external (Minnery/Prevo/et al.) and internal (why were fewer ballots distributed than should have been? why did troubleshooters & runners not replenish the precincts? … among other questions).

Meantime: documents are here, including the ESS contract. http://www.muni.org/departments/assembly/clerk/elections/pages/default.aspx

I’ll be back with you Sunday.

Were you prevented from voting?

The Clerk’s Office reminds people who attempted to vote, but were unable to because of a shortage of ballots, that they may contact the Clerk’s Office. Please email the Clerk’s Office at election2012@muni.org. When doing so, please include your full name and the number, name or location of the precinct(s) involved. If you are willing to be contacted by phone, please also include your phone number. The Clerk’s Office will collect and catalogue the information so that the Municipality can take this information into consideration, but will not be able to personally respond do to the present heavy workload.

Documents of the day

Barbara Gruenstein letter

Other documents

From the Municipal Clerk’s Anchorage Municipal Elections page. I gather that these were some of the items included in the notebooks provided to Anchorage Assembly members for their work session, but I don’t know if this is the complete package. I also haven’t had time to look through these. Perhaps tomorrow.

News coverage

I will update this page later with links to news and blog coverage of the work session; that info will also later go on our April 2012 Anchorage election reference page.

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Bent News, 2012-04-14: Handholding is “a gateway sexual activity” in Tennessee

Posted on Saturday, 14 April 2012 by Bent Alaska News Team

The dangers of handholding in Tennessee; Cissna challenges Young for Congress; study confirms coming out is healthy for LGB people; equal rights in Pennsylvania; and other Bent Alaska news of the day.

Tennessee: Handholding a “gateway sexual activity”

“Like any state legislature dealing with 8 percent unemployment and thousands of its residents facing disenfranchisement,” writes Scott Keyes of ThinkProgress, “the Tennessee Senate is targeting the menace of underage hand-holding.”

Alaska news

The Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles has been ordered to write new regulations for transgender people that do not violate their constitutional right to privacy; and state Rep. Sharon Cissna will take on U.S. Rep. Don Young in this years Congressional race.

Research news

The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law joins Twitter to keep the world up to date on important research in the field of sexual orientation law and public policy. Among its first announcements: the Williams Institute’s Gary Gates is now part of the Census advisory committee.

In other research news, a new study from Boston University’s School of Public Health adds to the growing body of research that shows that coming out is good for the health of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people, as is parental support during the coming out process.

Equal rights in Pennsylvania

Abingdon Township became the 28th community in Pennsylvania to pass an LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination measure. There are still no statewide protections in Pennsylvania prohibiting sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. In the past two years, Equality Pennsylvania (EQPA) has helped to pass ordinances in Doylestown Borough; Lower Merion Township; Haverford Township; the City of Bethlehem; Springfield Township; Newtown Borough; Whitemarsh Township, Jenkintown Borough, Susquehanna Township and Cheltenham Borough.

  • Congrats // Abington Township, Pennsylvania passes #lgbt inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance by a vote of 10-5 (via @EqualityPA ) #
  • Equality Pennsylvania Celebrates Passage of State’s 28th Non-Discrimination Ordinance http://t.co/GYExQdDT #
  • ‘When people learn it’s still legal to fire some1 for being gay, deny hotel room or evict from apt, they are appalled’ http://t.co/GYExQdDT #
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Bent News, 2012-04-13: Alaska DMV ordered to write new regulations for transgender people

Posted on Friday, 13 April 2012 by Bent Alaska News Team

As Anchorage officials continue to deal with the numerous irregularities of the April 3 election, a transgender woman wins a victory against Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles; and other news from Bent Alaska’s Twitter feed.

K.L. v. Alaska

We just learned of a March 12 court victory in K.L. v. State of Alaska, concerning a transgender woman who had been denied an Alaska driver’s license with the appropriate gender marker. K.L.’s case was taken up by the ACLU of Alaska last year, and an Alaska court in March court ordered the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles to produce an appropriate regulation for transgender people that can pass constitutional muster within six months. Meanwhile, K.L.’s driver’s license cancellation is suspended, and she’ll be  able to re-apply for a license after new DMV regulations are adopted.

Equal rights in Utah

A Utah town becomes the 15th in Utah to pass a measure banning sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination in employment and and housing

The April 3 Anchorage election

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Eye make-up, the drag diva way

Posted on Thursday, 12 April 2012 by Bent Alaska

Eye Make-up ClassCome meet the candidates for Imperial Crown Prince and Princess XX and learn a few make up techniques along the way! — taught by some of your local drag divas this Sunday, April 15, at Mad Myrna’s. (It’s more fun than doing your taxes!)

Ever asked a drag queen “Gosh I wish I could do that?” Or known someone that has? Well here is your chance: the drag queens re going to teach you!!

We will be teaching three eye techniques —

  • Smokey
  • Casual
  • Drag Glam

— as well as proper brush use, false eyelash application, and more!

Please bring your own eye make up and brushes (don’t want to spread any pink eye, yuck). Take home information will be provided.

Come have a good time, learn a few tricks, and mingle with friends. This is open to the public (must be 21 or older). Please invite anyone you think would be interested.

  • Date/time: Sunday, April 15, 4:00-7:00 PM
  • Location: Mad Myrna’s, 530 E. 5th Ave. in downtown Anchorage (see map)
  • Cost of admission: $5 suggested donation at the door to benefit the Imperial Court of All Alaska
  • Age restriction: Mad Myrna’s is a bar! Must be 21 with valid identification to enter.
  • Further info: see Facebook events page
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