Proposition Targets Trans People in Alaska's Largest City

Next up on the list of places trying to dehumanize trans people: Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska.

Alaska's Republican Party, according to KTVA, formally expressed support for Proposition 1, a ballot measure that mandates transgender people use bathrooms in Anchorage municipal buildings that correspond with their birth gender, not the gender they identify with. The vote-by-mail election, set for April 3, will let 40 percent of Alaska's population vote on the proposition.

In addition to backing by the GOP, television ads in support of Prop. 1 are working to sway voters. One of these ads features a woman named Kate (pictured) describing a scene in which a transgender woman allegedly watched other women in a locker room. What the ad fails to mentions is that Kate's story -- whether true or not -- did not take place in Alaska, nor is Kate from Alaska.

"We're so grateful for Kate voicing the concerns of so many women here in Anchorage who have faced similar situations, " said Jim Minnery, executive diretor of Alaska Family Action, which is heading up the "Yes on Prop. 1" campaign.

Fair Anchorage cochair David Lockard blasted the use of the incendiary "Kate."

"She doesn't have skin in the game," Lockard said. "My family has something to lose if Prop. 1 passes."

A recent survey found that over half of transgender people in Alaska "avoided using a public restroom in the past year because they were afraid of confrontations or other problems they might experience."