South Dakota isn’t one of the states a lot of people talk about—it’s not often in the news, and it is only really known to be the home of Mount Rushmore. However, there are many who call the state home, and there are those who may be considering a move to South Dakota. If you’re one of them, you probably want to know what the state’s take on LGBT rights are. You may be surprised about how liberal the state is in some ways and dismayed about how conservative it is in others.
Legality of Same-Sex Sexual Activity
This is one area in which South Dakota is very liberal. While the Territory of the Dakotas, which the state was originally part of, did ban all sodomy in 1862 regardless of the gender of those involved, it actually legalized all consensual acts in 1976. Very few other states took that position, with some enforcing sodomy laws up until Lawrence v. Texas in 2003.
Marriage
Unfortunately, South Dakota is on the conservative end of the marriage debate. Voters passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman in November of 2006, and it wasn’t until the Supreme Court ruling in June of 2015 that same-sex marriage was recognized in the state.
There was a lawsuit filed in 2014 petitioning the court to recognize same-sex marriage. The judge found in January of 2015 that the plaintiffs’ rights were being deprived, but while she ruled in favor, she also immediately stayed the ruling so that the defense could make their appeal. In June, following Obergefell v. Hodges, the entire case became moot and same-sex marriage became legal in the state.
Adoption
Any individual in South Dakota can adopt. The state has no laws or prohibitions on same-sex couples adopting or on second-parent adoption.
Legal Protections
The state has no laws that actually address discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. No hate crime laws deal with either issue, either. There are a few cities and counties that does specifically address discrimination in regards to sexual orientation. Both Sioux Falls and Brookings have sexual orientation discrimination laws, as does the county of Minnehaha. The county of Oglala Lakota has protections in place based off of both orientation and gender identity.
Recently, the state did introduce a “bathroom bill” similar to the one that has caused many issues in North Carolina. However, the governor vetoed the bill after meeting with a number of transgender teens.