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EqSD to Rapid City - End discrimination against LGBT employees
Wednesday, 21 April 2010 14:09
South Dakota’s largest LGBT organization calls for Rapid City to end legal discrimination against LGBT employees.
Contact Karen Mudd -- karen@eqsd.org -- 605.214.1299
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2010
Sioux Falls, SD- Equality South Dakota, the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights group in South Dakota with over 4,000 members is calling upon the Rapid City Council and the Mayor to amend their employment discrimination policy to include sexual orientation and gender identity. In a letter dated April 8, 2010, Equality South Dakota renewed their request to the city after a similar request last year was denied by the Rapid City Council.
In the letter Equality South Dakota answered all of the concerns voiced by the attorney for the city, Jason Green, who spoke against amending the Rapid City code last year. “After a year of hard work and of gathering all of the data from South Dakota and across the country, we provided all of the information to the Mayor of Rapid City to show the city should not fear adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the city employment policy” said Karen Mudd a consultant for Equality South Dakota. In 2009, the Rapid City Council voted down a request by Equality South Dakota because of fears expressed by the attorney for the city that Rapid City would see an increase in litigation and discrimination claims and because the city might have to pay for sexual reassignment surgeries for transgender persons.
“We know that none of these fears are correct when we look at statistics across the country. Cities which include sexual orientation and gender identity do not open themselves up to excessive liability” said Karen Mudd. Recently, the Rapid City School District re-added sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policy after much public debate that included a threat by State Senator Gordon Howie to bring a bill in the legislative session to pull the school’s funding if it added sexual orientation to the policy.
“The time is ripe for the Rapid City Council and for the Mayor of Rapid City to show that fairness and equal treatment are South Dakota values and to adopt a non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation and gender identity,” according to Karen Mudd. The Legal and Finance Committee of the Rapid City Council have the request on their agenda for April 28th. Equality South Dakota is asking all of their members and supporters to contact Rapid City and to let the council members and the mayor know that they support the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s non-discrimination policy.
