SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Before the first gay rights conference they organized, Nancy Rosenbrahn and a few others told friends by word of mouth and sent out veiled newsletters - they even made the manager of the Rapid City civic center promise to keep the event off the marquee.
Four decades later, Rosenbrahn and LGBT-rights activists are gathering in Rapid City again - this time for the first Dakotas Equality Summit. While now they advertise and convene in public, Rosenbrahn says gay South Dakotans still face social barriers. So organizers hope to use the summit to energize their political base and address ways they can reach potential supporters outside of the state’s metro areas.
“We’re trying to give our community of LGBT-plus people and our allies an environment to learn something new in,” Rosenbrahn said.
The weekend summit comes shortly after U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier struck down South Dakota’s ban on same-sex marriages, ruling that it and the state’s refusal to recognize marriage performed elsewhere were unconstitutional. Though Schreier put her decision on hold while the state appeals, Rosenbrahn says the victory gives the conference more weight.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court also announced that it will decide this spring whether same-sex couples have a right to marry everywhere in America under the Constitution.
The summit will feature sessions on topics ranging from what rights are available to couples that wed in other states and return to South Dakota to how to become more politically active at the Legislature.
Political consultant Bajun Mavalwalla, who managed Democrat Corinna Robinson’s unsuccessful challenge to Republican U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem, plans to speak about the basics of becoming a candidate and how to run a campaign. He said gay and lesbian South Dakotans interested in running for office should focus on the “nuts and bolts” of a campaign, and not fret about how their sexual orientation might be perceived by the public.
“It shouldn’t be an issue at all,” Mavalwalla said. “If it’s made an issue, then they should answer it directly.”
Other speakers include Judy Shepard, the mother of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was robbed and beaten to death in 1998, and Josh Newville, a Minneapolis attorney who is representing Rosenbrahn and her partner Jennie, as well as other couples who are challenging the state’s gay marriage ban.
Newville will be introducing Shepard, a charge that hits close to home. Newville said he realized he was gay in 8th grade after becoming very distressed about Matthew Shepard’s death. Now, he says, Matthew Shepard’s story still pushes forward the conversation about gay rights.
“We’re not only talking about it, but we’re fighting for our rights and we’re winning,” he said.
The summit will also serve as a launching point for Rosenbrahn and her group’s efforts to find allies around the state. The Black Hills Center For Equality recently received a $10,000 grant from the Minneapolis-based PFund Foundation to travel around the state and meet rural South Dakotans.
By meeting and talking with other South Dakotans, Rosenbrahn said she hopes some of the differences people think exist will disappear.
“Once you get to that point, it is hard for that person to hate a gay person,” she said. “Because how can you hate someone who does dishes and vacuums?”
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