Alaska Board of Regents Bans Antigay Discrimination

In an 8-2 vote, the University of Alaska's Board of Regents on Friday approved to add sexual orientation to its public university antidiscrimination policy.

"With the elimination of 'don't ask, don't tell' from the military, the trend is clear," University President Pat Gamble said in agenda material prepared for the board.

But the Associated Press reports that gender identity was not included as a protected class in the anti-discrimination proposal. "I assure you I am not one of a kind, that there are many university students, faculty and staff who are experiencing the disconnect that I have felt, along with the subsequent discrimination and violence, because they are not protected by nondiscrimination policies like the one being proposed here," Drew Phoenix, a transgender Methodist minister, said in his testimony before the board.

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