NEWS FLASH

LGBT Protections Measure Fails In Alaska | Voters in Alaska’s largest city of Anchorage appear to have rejected Proposition 5, which would have “added protections for people regardless of ‘sexual orientation or transgender identity’ to the city’s civil rights laws,” the New York Times reports. With 97.5 percent of the precincts reporting — and a “surprisingly strong turnout” that overwhelmed some polling stations — the measure failed 58 percent to 42 percent. Prior to the election, polls showed Proposition 5 winning with 50-41 support from voters, but an ugly campaign led by an Anchorage megachurch known as Anchorage Baptist Temple may have taken its toll. Opponents claimed that there’s no evidence of “widespread discrimination” in Anchorage and ran ads portraying transgender people in incredibly negative ways. One ad called trans people “transvestites” who are somehow a threat to children while another showed a cross-dressing man using a women’s locker room to the detriment of a gym owner’s business.