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State News ::
EqSD Successful in Plank & Resolution Adoption at SD Dem Convention
Thursday, 17 July 2008 18:09
The SD Democratic Party adopted as part of its platform a plank that calls for the addition of sexual orientation & gender identity as protected classes under state employment and housing discrimination laws. Equality South Dakota introduced the adoption of this plank which was unanimously approved by the Party's Human Rights Sub-Committee and then unanimously adopted by the convention as a whole. It needs to be noted that one of the co-chairs of the Human Rights Sub-Committee was Todd Epp who is chair of Equality SD Political Action Committee. Equality SD board members Lawrence Novotny of Brookings and Curtis Price of Rapid City were members of the Human Rights Sub-Committee which consisted of 10 members.
Equality SD members introduced a resolution that calls for South Dakota's Congressional Delegation to pass an inclusive federal ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act). The resolution was unanimously approved by the Human Rights Sub-Committee, then approved by the Resolutions Committee and unanimously adopted by the convention.
The Democratic Party carried forward from 2006 the resolution opposing the addition of any discriminatory language to the State Constitution. In 2006, Lawrence Novotny was successful in having the Democratic Party approve this resolution as a statement against Amendment C (the marriage amendment) that was on the 2006 ballot. The Resolutions Committee believed that the discriminatory language resolution is still applicable.
State News ::
Gay Delegates Elected at SD Democratic Convention
Thursday, 17 July 2008 15:17
The South Dakota State Democratic Convention concluded in Chamberlain on June 28 with the election of two LGBT delegates to the national convention. The Democratic Party also called for the adoption of anti-discrimination measures,
Martin Yeung of Rapid City and Liz Himmel-Roberts of Hartford were elected as delegates to the National Convention that will be held in Denver on August 25-28.
Yeung, a Spearfish native, attended college at Stanford and worked as an assistant in the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton Administration. He then was on the staff of Congressman Joe Sestak from Pennsylvania. Yeung returned to South Dakota in April 2007 to manage his parents' restaurants -- the Great Wall and Imperial in Rapid City. Yeung is also deeply involved in local area Democratic politics and fundraising and is a member of Equality SD Political Action Committee.
Liz Himmel-Roberts, who was elected as an alternate delegate, will be attending the convention to serve on the rules committee as an appointee of the Clinton campaign. Himmel-Roberts was also a delegate to the 2004 National Convention in New York City.
Democratic convention rules strongly urge that at least one of the state delegates to the national convention be a representative of the LGBT community. (At this state convention there were five LGBT people in attendance)
State News ::
LGBT Rights Focus of Pierre Meetings
Sunday, 18 May 2008 09:33
LGBT issues were the topic of discussion at the two meetings held in Pierre on Saturday April 19th, 2008. The afternoon public forum was jointly sponsored by Equality South Dakota (EqSD) and the American Civil Liberties Union. Sharon McGowan, an attorney with the ACLU's National Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, was the featured speaker. McGowan said that South Dakota has not been viewed as a place where the war on LGBT rights is being waged. However, South Dakota has since put itself on the map by nearly defeating the marriage amendment in 2006.
McGowan discussed four areas regarding LGBT rights that the ACLU is working on.
Press Releases ::
CA Supreme Court Upholds Rights for LGBT Citizens
Friday, 16 May 2008 09:30
EqSD Applauds Decision Which Gives Hope to LGBT South Dakotans And Their Friends and Families
Equality South Dakota
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Mudd, 605.214.1299 or Todd Epp, 605.351.5021
SIOUX FALLS, SD--Today, the California Supreme Court (click link for decision) made a historic decision to guarantee marriage equality for all of its citizens.
"This is a victory for fairness and opportunity." says Karen Mudd, chair of Equality South Dakota (EqSD), a statewide advocacy organization with a mission to help secure and protect the rights and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) South Dakotans and their families.