The first queer woman to serve as mayor of Alaska’s largest city is set to take office following a sex scandal which forced the resignation of her predecessor.
Austin Quinn-Davidson’s term will start on October 23 after soon-to-be-former mayor Ethan Berkowitz officially resigns. Berkowitz announced last Tuesday he is stepping down from the role following a whirlwind stream of allegations that included inappropriate sexting and posting nude photos posting to an underage website, the latter of which he has vehemently denied.
Quinn-Davidson, who currently serves in the Anchorage Assembly, will also replace Felix Rivera as the city council’s chair in order to assume the role of mayor, per the city charter code. Rivera, who is a gay man, will subsequently serve in the capacity of vice chair.
Quinn-Davidson’s appointment is a historic one for the largely conservative state. Although LGBTQ+ officials such as Rivera, Chris Constant, Kathy Ottersten, and Liz Lyke serve as assembly members in Anchorage and Fairbanks, respectively, Quinn-Davidson is Anchorage’s first out queer woman to hold the position of mayor. She is at least the second LGBTQ+ person in Alaska’s 61-year history to serve as a city’s chief executive, following former Nome Mayor Richard Beneville.
Quinn-Davidson has served in the Assembly since 2018 and sees her appointment as a way to strengthen the fight against COVID-19 in Anchorage. Speaking to the Anchorage Daily News, Quinn-Davidson noted that the city is still dealing with increased coronavirus cases among its youth and homeless populations, along with a struggling economy.
“I think revitalizing the economy and ensuring that small businesses can survive and that people can get back to work is key,” she said, noting that the intersection of public health and safety sectors will have an increasingly important role to play in the city’s revitalization.
For Anchorage’s LGBTQ+ population, Quinn-Davidson’s position could further a wave of progressive changes in recent years. In 2018, Anchorage successfully defended its LGBTQ+-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance, marking the first time in U.S. history voters upheld trans rights at the ballot box. More recently, the Anchorage Assembly voted to ban conversion therapy.
But on a statewide level, Alaska has a long way to go before LGBTQ+ people are equal under the law. The state has a discriminatory policy in place which bans transition-related care from being covered under health insurance, making it one of just six states which allows insurance companies to exploit this loophole.
In 2019, Alaska also filed a Supreme Court brief arguing that employers should have the right to fire workers for being LGBTQ+. Currently, there are no statewide laws in place protecting LGBTQ+ Alaskans in housing, employment, or public accommodations.
While the LGBTQ+ community hopes Quinn-Davidson’s tenure carries the state toward a more inclusive future, the length of her term remains in question due to the unprecedented nature of her appointment. Currently, the city must choose between two possibilities: holding a special election in 90 days to select a new mayor or allowing Quinn-Davidson to serve until the general election is held in April.
Either way, Quinn-Davidson believes that Anchorage’s LGBTQ+ community has already won, saying this milestone marks a major victory for representation.
“I received a text from my sister, who watched the meeting last night with a young girl… and she sent me a picture with the young girl looking at the screen saying ‘she looks like me,’ “ the acting mayor told the local CBS affiliate KTVA. “I think that matters… for all kinds of folks.”
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