Marriage and Other LGBT Rights in South Dakota

Nine miles past Mt. Rushmore on the road to Rapid City, SD. That’s where we woke up this morning, and that’s where we still are, about four hours later. We did our laundry at the coin-op in the RV park. The dryer is still not drying our clothes, several tries later.

We had a new sleeping arrangement last night, letting Frances sleep with us in the double bed. Normally we are co-sleepers–on a king bed at home–and this way we could leave the table set up instead of dismantling it for Frances’s Pack-n-Play. For me the new sleeping setup was a disaster. I woke up every fifteen minutes, it seemed. Frances woke up a lot, too, and every time she did, I did.

So until our computer batteries die, which will be soon, we are taking advantage of the Wi-Fi at Mystery Mountain RV Resort. Mystery Mountain, incidentally, also has Wi-Fi that works (if not dryers).

LGBT rights in South Dakota:

Same-sex marriage is banned by constitutional amendment as of 2006 when Amendment C passed, 52% to 48%. The amendment states, “Only marriage between a man and a woman shall be valid or recognized in South Dakota. The uniting of two or more persons in a civil union, domestic partnership, or other quasi-marital relationship shall not be valid or recognized in South Dakota.” [via CNN, HRC] This is not a wide margin, and according to Nate Silver, the amendment would fail at the polls today.
A same-sex partner may make medical decisions for you as a “close friend.” However, again, others have priority: adult children, parents, adult siblings.
Any adult may adopt as long as he or she is at least 10 years older than the child, including LGBT people. While there is no law prohibiting same-sex couples from jointly adopting or adopting each other’s children, it has never been approved or denied in the courts.
After sex reassignment surgery, you may get your South Dakota birth certificate changed to reflect your true gender.
There are no hate crimes laws concerning LGBT people.
Nothing prevents discrimination against you for your gender identity or sexual orientation.
There is no safe-schools legislation for LGBT kids. [all of the above via HRC, except as noted]