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Workplace Fairness - Primary Focus of Equality South Dakota

Tuesday, 12 January 2010 21:01

For Immediate Release -- Issue date: January 8, 2010

Workplace Fairness for Gay & Transgender South Dakotans Remains Primary Focus for Equality South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS – Eighty-three percent (83%) of South Dakotans think everyone should be treated equally with regard to employment and job opportunities – regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This is a finding from a Dec 21, 2009 scientific poll conducted by Robinson & Muenster Associates, Inc.

This data confirms that Equality South Dakota (EqSD) is on the right track in making the strategic decision to focus the organization’s efforts on Workplace Fairness. “All workers should be judged solely on their merits,” says chair Robert Doody, a Sioux Falls attorney. “Hardworking South Dakotans should have the chance to earn a living and provide for their families. South Dakota cannot afford to deny anyone the option to contribute to the economic life of our state because of characteristics that have no bearing whatsoever on the ability to do a job.”

Last year EqSD launched a sister 501c3 organization, EqSD Institute, to conduct educational programs and promote “best practice” employment policies among leading businesses and municipalities interested in recruiting and retaining a diverse, high-performing workforce. A year’s worth of conversations with employers, school boards and municipalities resulted in the identification of a groundswell of support. Close to 90% of the largest employers in the state now have EEO policies that include sexual orientation and/or gender identity. The group aims to see even more employers (private and public) expand their nondiscrimination policies this year.

EqSD Institute’s Workplace Fairness project will continue in 2010 thanks to renewed funding from the Tides Foundation’s State Equality Fund -- a philanthropic partnership that includes the Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr Fund, the Gill Foundation and an anonymous donor. Additional support has been provided by Black Hills Area Foundation and the ACLU of South Dakota.

Equality South Dakota has set a legislative goal of amending the Human Relations Act of 1972 to expand categories included in this nondiscrimination law. This initiative is supported by individual donors, ACLU of South Dakota and a grant from PFund Foundation. Twenty states (including our neighbor states of Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado) and the District of Columbia currently have laws making it illegal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation and 12 protect individuals based on their gender identity as well.

The Williams Institute of the UCLA School of Law just released a report on the impact of such legislation in South Dakota in which it finds that as many 14,000 gay and transgender South Dakotans would gain protections. It also finds that employees in same sex relationships in South Dakota earn substantially less money than their different-sex married counterparts. Men in same-sex couples earn one-third less while partnered lesbians earn just half that of married women. While the study confirms a need for a state law, it suggests that approximately 5 gay or transgender South Dakotans per year might file a complaint, based on experiences of other states. There is no evidence to suggest this would pose any financial burden on the state.

“If you had a gay or transgender son or daughter, wouldn’t you want them to know they will be judged solely on the quality of their work?” says Doody. “We don't’ think it’s a stretch to make that a reality in our fair state.”

EqSD is a non partisan organization formed in 2007 with a mission to advance the wellbeing of gay and transgender South Dakotans and their families through education and advocacy. EqSD formed a PAC in 2008, now one of the largest in the state. The EqSD Institute was launched in 2009. Institute project consultants are Angie Buhl (angie@eqsd.org) and Karen Mudd (Karen@eqsd.org), both based in Sioux Falls. EqSD has more than 4,000 members and growing by the day.

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