Special rights? I think not

A letter in the Aberdeen American News:

Equal rights already present
We wish to respond to the letter written by David Fischer on June 1. He states that the ELCA made the right move by allowing gay clergy. He also states that anyone who opposes this is reacting because of "ancient words with mere faith-based definition". In other words, we are reacting because of Biblical truths! We didn't know that the Bible has become old-fashioned and should be brought up-to-date. A scripture-based church does not embrace every sinful whim of society.

Your organization, Equality South Dakota, an organization whose mission is "to secure, protect, and support the rights and the well being of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) South Dakotans and their families," is working towards getting "special rights" for the gay community.

You already have equal rights.

Marvin and Marion Hoffman
Leola

Dear Marvin and Marion,

LGBT people (and by extension, their friends and family) do not have equal rights in South Dakota. Equality South Dakota is working with Republicans and Democrats to make our State a place where they cannot be discriminated against in housing, employment or health care. Yes, we have a "gay agenda" -- that everyone be treated fairly in South Dakota. A radical notion? I think not.

Frankly I was amazed last legislative session when HB 1144, a proposed state law, was voted down in committee (on partisan lines, although the bill had bipartisan support). Our testimony in favor of the law, backed up with facts and reasoned argument in favor of adding LGBT persons to our existing human rights law (which has not been modified since the 1970s). The testimony against 1144 frankly struck me as quite shrill and fact-free; it seemed aimed to stir up fear and prejudice rather than make any attempt at reasoned argument. In truth, I am encouraged by this fact -- as the arguments against basic fairness for LGBT people in South Dakota are getting thinner every day.

On the Biblical front, I urge you to go read your New Testament and find where Jesus speaks against lesbian and gay people. I can't find any words like that from Him, but He sure said a lot of radical things against divorce, economic disparity, and the turning away of anyone who only thirsts for justice and acceptance as they are.

I appreciate your sharing your point of view... but I'm very glad it's increasingly a minority view in South Dakota.

Curtis Price
Rapid City

RC Police Chief attempts damage control

It's very logical. After Chief Allender has found himself in the national news for his flip response to the press, he is changing his tune (RCJ):

Allender said previous news reports that the investigation was over were taken out of context.

According to Allender, the department's investigation into the allegation that officers deliberately outed Newsome was a two-phase investigation.

Allender described the first phase as "fact finding." That investigation was "pretty much wrapped up last weekend," Allender said.

But, the department still had a policy evaluation to complete. The policy review considers what was justified and what wasn't, he said.

"And, in the end, how do we determine the best way to move forward," Allender said.

I love this attempt by the RCJ to downplay this locally. I mean, everything is just fine in Rapid City, it's just a few meddling gays around the nation, that care about this, right??

The RCJ does a little editorializing by omission here:

Rapid City council members found several dozen e-mails from throughout the nation in their city e-mail accounts Thursday morning.

The e-mails call for an official apology from the Rapid City Police Department, a reprimand for the officers involved in Newsome's outing, a new department policy prohibiting the outing of lesbian and gay military members and compensation for Newsome for the loss of her military career.

The way this was written says: "Nope, no local people have talked to them at all; we have no LGBT or allies here in Rapid City. We're the good folks here." Just a few nasty emails from gay cranks in Californica, no one here sees an issue.

Please talk to your Council members about this. The RC police department need a better policy about 1) gays and lesbians and 2) our relationship with EAFB staff and officers. This is an opportunity for positive change.

My take: the officers were just doing their job but they need some better policy guidance on LGBT issues, and the police chief needs to learn to think before he speaks to the press about something that affects the LGBT community. Because again, here we are in the national press promoting our image as an ugly place that is proud of our flyover status. I just hope this is an opportunity to move forward.

South Dakota Lutherans consider division

Lutherans in the Rapid City area are now confronted with a choice. The Argus Leader has an excellent article today on what's going on with Lutherans in South Dakota in the wake of the ELCA's decision to allow all ELCA pastors to serve God without having to pretend to be someone they are not:

Gay clergy vote splits South Dakota Lutheran churches
At least seven congregations take steps to leave ELCA

East Lake Andes Lutheran Church is an eclectic, spiritually self-reliant congregation.

The 100 or so members from the farms and ranches near Armour and Parkston come from a variety of Protestant and Roman Catholic backgrounds, in addition to Lutheranism.

"It just kind of blended together into a community-type rural church," said Bill Van Gerpen, co-pastor and a Baptist.

Well, not all the community, I guess (emphasis below mine):

So when the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's general assembly voted in August to allow sexually active gay clergy in committed, monogamous relationships to serve as pastors, members of East Lake Andes who opposed the move explored the idea of leaving the ELCA. In the process, they've found that their own spiritual tradition runs deeper than their ties to the ELCA.

Their own spiritual tradition. It sounds so innocuous, so respectful. But I find it a resistance to accepting people as they are -- not a very Christian point of view. Why do I feel this way when some interpret Scripture as clearly speaking against the LGBT? This comment to the story is my answer:

Im from the Aberdeen area and am a lesbian i walked away from ORGANIZED churchs because of bigotry. I am a lutheran and was insulted DURING MY DADS FUNERAL because of my lifestyle. There was about 300 people there and the minister singled me out during the sermon. It took all my respect for my father and mother not to punch him into next week. Now that it is going on 4 years i still have no ambition to go back to a hypocritical and bigoted type situation.... I dont broadcast my sexuality by no means but we all bleed red.

Kevin Woster captures what the RC School Board fuss was about

Wondering why the "gay agenda" so well-represented and articulate at the Rapid City School Board meeting this week after Gordon Howie's December 17 threat to of the school board?

Kevin Woster hit it right on the head in an op-ed (RC Journal, Jan 3, Navigating the icy roads of fatherhood)about what LGBT parents and parents of LGBT kids face every single day.

Well, okay he WAS talking about road ice but it's a very good metaphor.

They're big kids, well on their way to lives I can only guess at. But they're still my kids. And I still get jelly kneed at the idea of something terrible happening to them out in that big world of promise and hope and danger and pain.

Letting go is tough duty for a parent, even when the "kids" are 25 and 27. Yet, you have to do it every time they turn and walk away from your latest lingering hug.

They did that last Sunday morning, after six days here in Rapid City. It was the longest stretch we've had together since their high school years, and it left me feeling wealthy beyond words.

It also left me with a nervous knot in my stomach as they pulled out of the driveway and out onto roads turned treacherous by the two-day winter storm that swept the state.

When Judy Shepard spoke in Rapid City, she related that when her son Matthew "came out" to her, that her first thoughts were for her son's personal safety out there on the "icy roads" of the world.

A young person's call for change in South Dakota

from Libby Tramell in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader Letters...

Congress is considering the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The bill, which has 192 co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives and 43 in the Senate, would prohibit discrimination based on someone's sexual orientation or gender identity and would therefore help to make my generation feel more confident and excited about our futures.

I know two young men who are straight A students and who would be great assets to South Dakota. They are planning to attend school out of state, however, because they think they will feel safer about their sexual orientations in a place that is more accepting of them.

Is this the image we want to set forth for the rest of the world to see? I think not.

South Dakota needs this to move forward: economically, and spiritually. In this economy we can't succeed if we turn good people away, and discrimination is wrong. It's that simple.

Equality South Dakota and Equality South Dakota PAC are now engaged in their annual appeal. If you think fairness is a South Dakota value, please consider donating at our secure web site:

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Lots of interest in Black Hills Pride

The two most commented stories on the Rapid City Journal's Rapid Reply are:

* Black Hills Gay Pride event expands to four days (299)

* Rapid City woman likens gay activism to 1960s civil rights movement (117)

I'm torn between pride and disgust from the comments as many of them are packed with hate and bigotry. Many are so bad that I am dismayed the RCJ has allowed them to be posted-- violence against my LGBT friends comes from this kind of speech.

Religion seems to come up a lot in the negative comments, especially when used as a weapon to justify prejudice, for example, typical gems like:

God has already spoken for Himself in the Bible.

It's hard not to agree with the woman who posted:

I have never felt so dirty being from SD. I feel like I live in a twilight zone right now.... Shame on all of you who pull out your bible [sic] every time someone does something that makes you uncomfortable.... there are religious gays who have had to fight with their feeling their whole lives to get to a place where they feel like god [sic] loves them. Give them that since none of you know who god [sic] really loves.

But there are enough supportive posts for LGBT and their allies to take heart that we are turning a corner, even here in South Dakota.

May justice flow like a river!