Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 20:38:54 -0500
From: TOMALHE@aol.com

3/1/95

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SOUTH DAKOTA GAY LESBIAN AND BISEXUAL FEDERATION DECLARES A
DRAW AGAINST BIGOTRY HATRED AND DISCRIMINATION IN SOUTH DAKOTA

	South Dakota House Bill 1184, an act to prohibit marriage between persons of
the
same sex and to null and void such marriages from the beginning, was opposed
by the South
Dakota Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Federation.
	
	The bill was passed by the House State affairs Committee 9-3, SD House
54-13,
and the SD Senate Health & Human Services Committee 4-2. the Senate  voted
18-17 to
send the bill back for study by the Judiciary Committee. SD HB 1184 was
tabled in Judiciary
Committee 4-3, and a motion to place 1184 back on the Senate Calendar failed
17 -13 with 5
excused. A vote of 18 was needed for passage.

	Executive Director Barry Wick wishes to thank the following people: Robert
Bray of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Evan Wolfson of the Lambda Legal
Defense &
Education Fund, RoAnn Redlin of the South Dakota Advocacy Network for Women,
the
Unitarian Fellowship of Rapid City,  Mr. Jacques Soukup, Mr. Kirk Thomas, Pat
Kane of
PFLAG Sioux Falls, Jim Berman of Common Cause, the Sioux Empire Gay & Lesbian
Coalition, the Black Hills Gay & Lesbian Coalition, the all new Sons and
Daughters on the
SDSU Campus, the Gay & Lesbian Student Union at SDSU, Your Family & Friends
of Idaho,
Gay & Lesbian Utah Democrats, Wyoming Gay & Lesbian Grassroots Project, Mr.
William
Stosine, Oregon Grassroots Organizing Project,  The Atomic Cafe in Rapid
City, Warehouse
79 of Rapid City, Mr. Thomas Heald, Mr. Craig Chapman, and the hundreds of
people who
telephoned wrote faxed the governor and the South Dakota State Legislature.

Let us not rest after this skirmish, tonight Gay & Lesbian Utah Democrats
needs our support.
Contact Utah's governor at (801) 538-1000  (801)538-1528 facsimile, and the
Utah State
Legislature at  (801)538-1029 (801)538-1908 facsimile, to join us in opposing
Utah House Bill
366.

Now to organize south dakota, so this never happens again.

Sincerely,


Barry Wick, Executive Director
Craig Chapman, Executive Secretary

South Dakota Gay Lesbian and Bisexual Federation
13121 South Creek View Road
Rapid City, SD 57702

(605) 343-5577