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Content
Same-sex Couples Increase in City, State
Tuesday, 30 August 2011 19:43
Rapid City Journal - Nick Penzenstadler Journal staff | Posted: 08/25/2011
When Freddie Magnavito married his partner, Dan, in the Black Forest Inn near Rapid City in 2006, it was one of the first same-sex weddings in the Black Hills.
"A lot of folks had never experienced that or seen a same-sex wedding," said Freddie's mother, Sandy Magnavito. "I thought it was eye-opening. He had a lot of support from people around the city."
Because South Dakota does not allow same-sex marriages, the ceremony was symbolic and has no legal standing. Since that time, the couple has moved to the state of Washington, but the Rapid City community and South Dakota have continued to become more open to the concept.
In fact, in South Dakota, 1,390 couples identified themselves as same sex, according to new figures from 2010 Census. That is up from 826 in 2000. Rapid City also saw numbers more than double in 10 years, to 140 from 59 couples that registered as same-sex in the census.
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For access to the Williams Institue School of Law report as noted in the article which relates to South Dakota is available at: UCLA School of Law
