State of South Dakota secondary Archives: on Civil Rights
Billie Sutton:
Indian Country will have a seat at the table
In Sutton's administration, Indian Country will have a seat at the table. As governor, Billie will increase the resources and capacity of the cabinet-level position that focuses on Indian Affairs. This department must be a vibrant, effective vehicle for
change in South Dakota's executive branch. South Dakota must do better in raising state employees' awareness of Native culture; communication protocol with tribal governments; tribal sovereignty; and jurisdiction.
Native women have been disappearing for generations. Shining a light on this issue is critical to enhancing and ensuring the safety of our women and girls. Governor Sutton will work to create a culture of respect and dignity around women in South
Dakota. He will also coordinate with governmental, non-governmental, and international organizations with a goal of receiving effective recommendations. This commission will focus on the importance of inter-agency information sharing.
Source: 2021 South Dakota Governor campaign website SuttonForSD.com
Nov 3, 2021
Gordon Howie:
Gays and lesbians choose to live outside the laws of God
Gordon Howie believes gays and lesbians "choose to live outside the laws of God" and "vehemently" disagrees with their "lifestyle," but the independent candidate for
U.S. Senate has a position he admits might surprise some people: he supports giving same-sex couples legal rights, "as long as we don't call it marriage."
Howie is running on a socially conservative platform to bring God back into public life, and believes homosexuality is immoral. But the candidate who regularly bashes Republican nominee Mike Rounds for being insufficiently conservative is actually to
Rounds' left on one particular question of gay rights.
Howie supports civil unions for same-sex couples, while Rounds said he doesn't.
Source: Argus-Leader on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Aug 16, 2014
Gordon Howie:
Civil unions and equal rights for gays, but not marriage
Both Howie & Rounds oppose allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. The other two candidates in the race, Democrat Rick Weiland and independent Larry Pressler, support gay marriage."I think it's silly not to allow those kind of things," Howie said
of letting same-sex couples file taxes jointly, have hospital visitation rights and other privileges currently limited to married couples.
Rounds, like Howie, said he believes "marriage is between a man and a woman."
Beyond that, Rounds said romantic partners can enter into contracts to do things that already are legal but opposes changing the law to allow same-sex couples privileges currently reserved for married couples.
[One pundit noted], "Very conservative
people could come to endorse civil unions by breaking it up and looking at the legal elements of it and saying, okay, we're not going to discriminate against them, and this is a different status, but that doesn't mean they're married."
Source: Argus-Leader on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Aug 16, 2014
Gordon Howie:
Government shouldn't redefine marriage
Question topic: Marriage is a union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition.
Howie: Strongly Agree
Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Sep 30, 2014
Jay Williams:
Far too often, Native Americans are forgotten & ignored
Far too often, Native American South Dakotans are forgotten and ignored. With Jay, that will change. He will maintain an open dialogue with Native Americans across South Dakota.
He will work to ensure that IHS facilities are high quality, accessible, and equipped to handle as many patients as possible.
While Jay has ideas about how he can best serve Native Americans in South Dakota, he knows that the best answers will come from listening to what Native American South Dakotans have to say.
The most important thing that he can do is to listen to those who are Native American, and then translate their ideas into policy.
Source: 2016 South Dakota Senate campaign web JayWilliams2016.org
Apr 1, 2016
Kristi Noem:
Bars transgender athletes from women's sports
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has signed executive orders barring transgender athletes from women's sports in the state. "Only girls should play girls' sports," Noem tweeted. "Given the legislature's failure to accept my proposed revisions to
HB 1217, I am immediately signing two executive orders to address this issue: one to protect fairness in K-12 athletics, and another to do so in college athletics."
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2022 South Dakota Gubernatorial race
Mar 30, 2021
Kristi Noem:
In South Dakota, only girls can play in girls' sports
Boys' and girls' bodies are biologically different. In South Dakota, only girls can play in girls' sports according to the executive orders I signed almost a year ago. But I am introducing -- and hope you will support -- a bill that will be the
strongest law in the nation. Congress passed Title IX years ago to guarantee that girls have a level playing field on which they can succeed--to ensure their liberty to achieve. [OTI note: the intent is to bar transgender girls from participating.]
Source: 2022 State of the State Address to South Dakota legislature
Jan 11, 2022
Larry Pressler:
I was wrong to support 1996 Defense of Marriage Act
Pressler voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, but he now supports
gay marriage. "I was wrong, and I have corrected that big time," he said.
Source: Politico.com on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Nov 14, 2013
Larry Pressler:
Supports gay marriage
Pressler has declared his support for the president's health care law and frequently invites the president to visit the state to lecture on the law. He had previously endorsed Obama for president and talked up his support for gay marriage. He recently
highlighted his support for raising taxes on estates worth more than $10 million and offering a five-year path to citizenship for immigrants who enter the country illegally. "This is my last campaign and I'm saying exactly what I believe," Pressler said.
Source: Rollcall e-zine on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 24, 2014
Larry Pressler:
Filed legal brief to overturn S.D.'s gay marriage ban
Both Howie and Rounds oppose allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. The other two candidates in the race, Democrat Rick Weiland and independent Larry Pressler, support gay marriage.South Dakota law restricts marriage to opposite-sex couples,
but that law is being challenged in federal court by several same-sex couples. Pressler filed a brief supporting that lawsuit trying to overturn South Dakota's gay marriage ban. "This court should protect the fundamental right of civil marriage in
South Dakota by ensuring that it is available to same-sex couples," Pressler wrote.
Weiland also supports same-sex marriage, though his campaign has focused on fiscal policy and government reform.
[One pundit noted], "Very conservative people
could come to endorse civil unions by breaking it up and looking at the legal elements of it and saying, okay, we're not going to discriminate against them, and this is a different status, but that doesn't mean they're married."
Source: Argus-Leader on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Aug 16, 2014
Mike Rounds:
Legal contracts for gay couples, but not marriage
Both Howie and Rounds oppose allowing same-sex couples to legally marry. "I think it's silly not to allow those kind of things," Howie said of letting same-sex couples file taxes jointly, have hospital visitation rights and other privileges currently
limited to married couples.Rounds, like Howie, said he believes "marriage is between a man and a woman." Beyond that, Rounds said romantic partners can enter into contracts to do things that already are legal but opposes changing the law to allow
same-sex couples privileges currently reserved for married couples.
"If two individuals, or 3 or 4 or 12 individuals, want to contract with one another, as long as those contracts are legal, I have no problem with those folks contracting with one
another to do what is a lawful activity," Rounds said. As to what constitutes a lawful contract, Rounds said the courts, not lawmakers, will decide. "We'll have opportunities in the future to address questions of what are legal contracts," Rounds said.
Source: Argus-Leader on 2014 South Dakota Senate race
Aug 16, 2014
Rick Weiland:
Favors same-sex marriage
Here in South Dakota, the only declared Democratic candidate so far is Rick Weiland, a small-business owner who has said he would fight corporate interests. Weiland also favors same-sex marriage and universal background checks for guns, and he is
concerned about the weakening of Social Security and Medicare.Weiland has the support of his onetime boss, Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader (also a South Dakota Democrat), and of the party's more liberal base. But his candidacy has upset
some in the Democratic establishment. Many South Dakota Democrats are hoping for a centrist to compete in a state where the number of registered independents has increased over the past five years. Daschle said he believed that Weiland would be able
to earn the establishment's support. "I've been through this hundreds of times--a candidate has to prove himself or herself before they get support of the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee]. I believe Rick will be able to do that."
Source: New York Times on 2014 South Dakota Senate debate
May 28, 2013
Scyller Borglum:
Voted no on banning gender-dysphoria instruction in schools
Borglum's legislative voting record has not impressed Citizens for Liberty. The group gave her a 29% score on its annual 100-point conservative scorecard. Her score was doomed by "no" votes on bills including a bill requiring the posting of "In
God We Trust" signage in public schools, which passed; a proposed right for parents to refuse health care treatment that would encourage transgenderism, which was defeated; and a ban on gender-dysphoria instruction in schools, which was also defeated.
Source: Rapid City Journal on 2020 South Dakota voting record
Jul 28, 2019
Scyller Borglum:
Voted no on posting "In God We Trust" signs in schools
Borglum's legislative voting record has not impressed Citizens for Liberty. The group gave her a 29% score on its annual 100-point conservative scorecard. Her score was doomed by "no" votes on bills including a bill requiring the posting of "In
God We Trust" signage in public schools, which passed; a proposed right for parents to refuse health care treatment that would encourage transgenderism, which was defeated; and a ban on gender-dysphoria instruction in schools, which was also defeated.
Source: Rapid City Journal on 2020 South Dakota voting record
Jul 28, 2019
Scyller Borglum:
Shouldn't adultery laws include bestiality?
Borglum raised eyebrows during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill that would have changed the state's definition of adultery to include same-sex relationships. She asked the bill's sponsor why he did not include bestiality. When asked about
the comment, Borglum said she had been trying to argue that adultery definitions in state law are superfluous and should be repealed, because South Dakota allows no-fault divorces. "In no way was I saying anything about homosexuality," she said.
Source: Rapid City Journal on 2020 South Dakota Senate race
Jul 28, 2019
Steven Haugaard:
Radical transgender ideology rejects parental rights
Parental rights are being swept aside in favor of what Big Business, Big Tech, left-wing academics and university administrators, and Hollywood want. And our leaders just go along with it. Sadly, our own governor bowed to the pressure of
Big Business behind closed doors and vetoed a bill that would have protected our daughters. The God-given rights of parents to determine what is right for their kids is being rejected in favor of radical transgender ideology and Critical Race Theory.
Source: 2022 South Dakota Gubernatorial website SteveHaugaard.com
Feb 22, 2022
Jamie R. Smith:
Critical race theory not a problem in South Dakota schools
Smith touted his work as a teacher and coach and sought to criticize Noem for leaning on the work of a conservative college in Michigan, Hillsdale College, to remake the state's social studies standards.Noem in turn said she was working to
elevate parents' voices in education and accused Smith of being a proponent of so-called critical race theory--an academic framework that examines American history through the lens of racism. He said that is not a problem in South Dakota's schools.
Source: US News and World Report on 2022 South Dakota Governor race
Oct 1, 2022
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2023