Sioux Falls Pride

Last updated
Sioux Falls Pride
AbbreviationSFP
Founded2000 (2000) [1]
TypeNon-profit
FocusFostering Growth and Furthered Visibility for the LGBTQA+ Community in South Dakota
Headquarters Sioux Falls, South Dakota, U.S.
Area served
South Dakota
MethodCommunity Engagement, Fundraising and Sponsorships
President
Quinn Kathner
Website siouxfallspride.org
Formerly called
The Center for Equality

Sioux Falls Pride, formerly The Center for Equality (CFE), [2] is a non-profit organization in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that supports and celebrates the LGBT community in South Dakota and provides resources for LGBT people and their allies. Completely volunteer-based, the Sioux Falls Pride Board of Directors and Committee work together to hosts the annual Pride event each June along with other events supporting the local LGBT community.

Contents

Mission

Sioux Falls Pride's mission is "To protect and support the rights, visibility and well being of the LGBTQA+ community in South Dakota and their families." [3] Sioux Falls Pride first took place in mid-2000 and was then hosted by the Center for Equality in Sioux Falls. The Center for Equality, now just known as Sioux Falls Pride, was the leading LGBT focused non-profit organization that provided services, support and advocated for the LGBT community of Sioux Falls and surrounding areas. [4] Ongoing efforts continue for furthered visibility and community involvement through partnerships with various non-profit organizations and businesses.

Events

On June 15, 2019, the Sioux Falls Pride organization held the first Pride Parade in the state of South Dakota. The parade began at 10:00am and lasted approximately 45 minutes. The parade traveled down Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls. Thousands attended this first-ever event in celebration of the LGBTQA+ community. Many downtown business owners proudly flew the rainbow flag in acknowledgement and support of this milestone event.

Also in 2019, the Sioux Falls Pride logo changed to the rainbow buffalo.

Activism

SFP expressed concern regarding the passage of South Dakota House Bill 1008 in February 2016. After the bill was passed in the state legislature, representatives for SFP traveled to the State Capitol Building to rally against the bill. [5] SFP also sent South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard a letter requesting a meeting in Pierre. [6] Daugaard accepted and met with three transgender representatives from The Center, two of whom were students. Daugaard later said the meeting "helped (him) see things through their eyes". [7]

In May 2016, SFP also backed the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice's decision to request Sioux Falls schools allow transgender students to use facilities that corresponded to their gender identity. [8] A proposed Sioux Falls anti-discrimination ordinance also received support from The Center. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

Avera Health is a regional health system based in Sioux Falls, S.D., comprising more than 300 locations in 100 communities throughout South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota. Avera serves a geographical footprint of more than 72,000 square miles and 86 counties, and a population of nearly 1 million.

Equality California

Equality California or EQCA is a non-profit civil rights organization that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in California. It is the largest statewide LGBT organization in the United States and the largest member of the Equality Federation. The organization is currently based in Los Angeles.

Indy Pride Festival Annual LGBT event in Indianapolis, Indiana

Indy Pride Festival, formerly Circle City IN Pride, is the annual week of LGBT pride events in Indianapolis. The week is organized by LGBT organization Indy Pride, Inc., and has been held under this name and organization for over a decade. In recent years, more than 95,000 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual people have attended Circle City IN Pride Festival. Indy Pride's Parade and Festival is held the 2nd Saturday in June, with a week of events leading up to it, in honor of the Stonewall Riots and in accordance with other United States pride festivals. Indy Pride Festival is the largest LGBT pride event in Indiana.

Capital City Pride in Olympia, Washington is a non-profit organization that hosts a season of events culminating with the two-day Capital City Pride festival, and a parade. The festival celebrates the region's LGBT community. The Pride festival is held at Sylvester Park in downtown Olympia. Traditionally, The Capital City Pride parade and festival was held on a Saturday, but was moved to Sunday in 2007. In 2010, the festival grew to two full days.

Amsterdam Gay Pride Annual LGBT event in Amsterdam

Amsterdam Pride or Amsterdam Gay Pride is a citywide gay-festival held annually at the center of Amsterdam during the first weekend of August. The festival attracts several hundred-thousand visitors each year and is one of the largest publicly held annual events in the Netherlands.

Gay pride Positive stance toward LGBTQ+ people

Gay pride or LGBT pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to shame and social stigma, is the predominant outlook that bolsters most LGBT rights movements. Pride has lent its name to LGBT-themed organizations, institutes, foundations, book titles, periodicals, a cable TV station, and the Pride Library.

LGBT rights in South Dakota Overview of LGBT rights in the U.S. state of South Dakota

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of South Dakota may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in South Dakota, and same-sex marriages have been recognized since June 2015 as a result of Obergefell v. Hodges. State statutes do not address discrimination on account of sexual orientation or gender identity; however, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that employment discrimination against LGBT people is illegal under federal law.

St. Louis PrideFest

PrideFest St. Louis is an annual LGBT pride event in St. Louis, Missouri. The event is organized by Pride St. Louis, an LGBT non-profit organization in the Greater St. Louis area.

Miriam Ben-Shalom

Miriam Ben-Shalom is an American educator, activist and former Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. After being discharged from the military for homosexuality in 1976, she successfully challenged her discharge in court and returned to military service in 1987—the first openly gay person to be reinstated after being discharged under the military's policy excluding homosexuals from military service. She served until 1990 when the Army succeeded in terminating her service after prolonged judicial proceedings.

LGBT culture in New York City Culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in New York City, United States

New York City has one of the largest LGBTQ populations in the world and the most prominent. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT Americans in New York City constitute by significant margins the largest self-identifying lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities in the United States, and the 1969 Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village are widely considered to be the genesis of the modern gay rights movement.

The state of North Dakota has improved in its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents in the late 1990s and into the 21st Century, when LGBT residents began to openly establish events, organizations and outlets for fellow LGBT residents and allies, and increase in political and community awareness.

Silicon Valley Pride

Silicon Valley Pride, founded as the San Jose Gay Pride Festival, is an annual gay pride celebration that serves the LGBTQA community of the Silicon Valley / South Bay / Santa Clara County region. It is organized by volunteers from the Billy DeFrank Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center, a non-profit LGBTQA organization in San Jose.

The history of LGBT residents in South Dakota spans back to precolonial Native American times, but has become much more visible in the 21st century.

South Dakota House Bill 1008, also known as House Bill 1008, HB 1008, and the Bathroom Bill, was a bill passed by the South Dakota Legislature in 2016 and vetoed by Governor of South Dakota Dennis Daugaard. The purpose of the bill was to restrict bathroom and locker room use by transgender students to facilities that matched their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity. It was the first such bathroom bill to be passed in a state legislature in the U.S. and sparked a chain of similar bills across the nation. HB 1008 was opposed by several LGBT rights organizations, such as the HRC, GLSEN, and ACLU.

Twin Cities Pride

Twin Cities Pride, also known as Twin Cities GLBT Pride, is a nonprofit organization which runs an annual celebration in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota every June focusing on the LGBT community.

Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk (KRPW) is the oldest pride walk in India and South Asia. The first march in Kolkata was organised on 2 July 1999. The walk was called The Friendship Walk. Kolkata was chosen as the first city to host the march owing to Kolkata's history of movements for human and Political Rights. Currently, Kolkata Rainbow Pride Walk is organised by the Kolkata Rainbow Pride Festival (KRPF).

Flag of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The flag of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, consists of a zigzag pattern of thin white and blue lines, which divides an upper blue portion and a lower pinkish-red portion, and a yellow sun in the upper left corner. The zigzag represents the namesake falls of the Big Sioux River. The blue color and the sun allude to the flag of South Dakota. The pinkish-red portion represents the Sioux Quartzite nearby. The upward direction of the design represents the growth of Sioux Falls. The red, white and blue colors included in the flag are also a reference to the flag of the United States while maintaining city and state pride.

LGBT culture in St. Louis is strongly influenced by larger regional divisions, such as racial division and the city/county divide. Recorded history and resource flow have tended to prioritize white individuals and the city's central corridor, creating a perception of LGBT culture in St. Louis that does not always align with regional demographics. For the purposes of this article, St. Louis describes the metropolitan area, including neighboring counties in Missouri and Illinois.

References

  1. "The Center for Equality". CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers. CenterLink. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  2. "The Center For Equality". Downtown Sioux Falls. Downtown Sioux Falls. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014.
  3. "Mission & Goals".
  4. Mallory, Brady (January 15, 2015). "Center For Equality: Planning The Future, Changing The Present For LGBT Community". Keloland Television. Young Broadcasting of Sioux Falls. Archived from the original on September 23, 2016.
  5. Richardson, Bradford (March 1, 2016). "GOP governor shocks conservatives, vetoes transgender bathroom bill". The Washington Times. The Washington Times, LLC. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  6. "The Center for Equality Sends Governor Daugaard a Letter". KSFY. KSFY. February 16, 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  7. Ferguson, Dana (February 23, 2016). "Gov: Transgender meeting 'helped me see things through their eyes'". Argus Leader. Gannett Company. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  8. Raposa, Megan (May 13, 2016). "Transgender Bathroom Letter Won't Change S.F. Policy". Argus Leader. Gannett Company. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  9. Smith, Kelley (May 24, 2016). "City plans to withdraw anti-discrimination ordinance". KSFY. KSFY. Retrieved 4 June 2016.