Subject: VICTORY IN SOUTH DAKOTA!!
From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 17:41:35 -0500

NEWS FLASH!  NEWS FLASH!  NEWS FLASH!  NEWS FLASH!
CONTACT:  Robert Bray, NGLTF, (415)552-6448

ANTI-GAY MARRIAGE BILL DEFEATED FOR SECOND TIME IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Jan. 24, 1996...In the latest skirmish on the marriage front, the South
Dakota legislature today struck down a bill that would have banned the
recognition of 
same-gender marriages.  House Bill 1143 was defeated in the House State
Affairs 
committee after a "do pass" vote of 7 "no" and 6 "yes."  The bill was then 
tabled.  The bill would have mandated that only a man and woman could be
married 
and would have ostensibly prohibited same-gender marriage and the recognition
of 
such unions allowed in other states.

    The bill, sponsored by Rep. Roger Hunt (R-Brandon) and others, was the 
second time the state legislature defeated an anti-gay marriage law.  A
similar 
measure was defeated last year. Hunt had claimed the new bill was needed to 
"protect families" and stop rising insurance rates that would result if gay 
couples could be married.

    Free Americans Creating Equal Status (FACES) of South Dakota, the new
state-
wide gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy group, played a leading 
role in arranging testimony and educating legislators and the press about the

bill.  FACES and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) sponsored a
10-
day National Coming Out Week tour of the state last October to increase 
visibility of the gay community in South Dakota and challenge anti-gay 
legislation.  NGLTF also assisted FACES with its media and legislative
strategy 
for defeating the measure.

    "Rep. Hunt tried and failed to get the legislature to spend its valuable 
time creating legal barriers against couples who might win their freedom to 
marry in the future in some other state," said Barry Wick, president of
FACES. 
"Marriage is an important personal choice to be made by the couple and not 
interfered with by the government. If legislators are truly concerned about 
access to affordable health insurance, they should not scapegoat gays and
people 
with AIDS who pay taxes, own homes, build families and contribute to our 
community."

    Currently, same-gender marriages are not recognized in any state in the
U.S.  
However, the Hawaii state supreme court is expected to rule this year on a
gay 
marriage case.  If the ruling if positive, legal analysts anticipate gay and 
lesbian couples travelling to Hawaii from other states to be married.

    "Whether it's the rapidly emerging issue of gay marriage, or
discrimination, 
or violence, gays in small-town America are courageously coming out and 
asserting their right to live free of state-sanctioned prejudice," said NGLTF

field organizer and media director Robert Bray, who toured the state and 
conducted trainings for South Dakota activists.  "Rural gays, lesbians and 
bisexuals are becoming more visible than ever.  They are successfully
fighting 
the backlash to their new-found visibility and political power."   

    Keith Elston, executive director of the ACLU of the Dakotas, which
assisted 
with lobbying to defeat the measure, heralded the victory and said,
"Lawmakers 
are realizing that anti-gay legislation is bad for our economy, bad for the 
state's image, and bad for all citizens, not just gay, lesbian and bisexual 
people." 

    Local activists and lobbyists credited several factors for the defeat of
the 
bill, including the new-found visibility of gay people and their supporters
in 
the highly rural state, the potential economic impact of costly lawsuits and 
other legal expenses paid for by taxpayers if the bill passed, and the fact
that 
same-gender marriages are already not recognized in South Dakota, making the 
bill wasteful and unnecessary.  In addition, apparently more than one gay-
supportive lawmaker who have gay or lesbian children came forward to oppose
the 
measure.

    Unfortunately, trouble still brews in South Dakota as the legislature is 
considering a mandatory HIV testing bill for people arrested for particular 
crimes, including sex assaults, and an anti-affirmative action bill.

    Still, today's victory was savored by the fledgling gay, lesbian,
bisexual 
and transgender community of South Dakota. Local gay activist Barry Wick,
great 
grandson of former state governor Carl Gunderson, testified at a hearing for
the 
bill and had come out of the closet to state media during last year's battle.
 
This morning he could be heard proclaming in the halls of the capital
building 
in Pierre, "We Won!  We Did It!"

    To receive a copy of the NGLTF's "To Have and To Hold: Organizing for Our

Right to Marry" action kit, contact NGLTF at (202)332-6483, ext 3327.

    For more information on the bill, contact FACES of South Dakota, Barry
Wick, 
at (605)343-5577; or the ACLU of the Dakotas, Keith Elston (N. Dakota), 
(701)255-4727.

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