The chief spokesman for Amendment C spent a considerable amount of time last night at a forum at South Dakota State University attacking what he perceives to be the "lifestyle" of South Dakotans Against Discrimination's Jon Hoadley.
A number of SDSU groups sponsored the forum last night on Amendment C, the "quasi-marital relations" amendment to the state constitution.
In his later remarks in the hour and a half forum, Rob Regier of the S.D. Family Policy Council personally attacked what he believes to be Jon's lifestyle, saying he "would be dead before he was 40." Jon is 23.
Regier's attack assumes many things about Jon, none of which he knows for sure or is any of his business. The debate about Amendment C isn't how Jon or Rob (or you or me) decide to lead our lives. It is about making a mess of our state's laws and current rights than many South Dakotans--gay and non-gay--enjoy as citizens.
Furthermore, the debaters were there to talk about the legal implications of Amendment C, which Jon did in great form and style. Amendment C essentially allows the goverment to not only interfere with our personal lives, but also with our state's domestic abuse laws, personal contracts, health insurance, and other issues.
Regier also asserted that there was "no way" that Amendment C could ever take away personal contract rights, health care to domestic partners, or invalidate other states' recognition of common law marriage, among many rights and privileges.
There is obviously no way he or anyone else can guarantee what a state circuit court judge or the State Supreme Court or a federal court might do in interpreting Amendment C should it pass.
As Jon pointed out, domestic partners have lost health care coverage in Michigan under a similar law and single people have lost domestic abuse protections under a similar Ohio law.
KELOLAND TV covered part of the debate. Here is their coverage.
Here are Jon's sound bites (In Video!) from the KELOLAND interview that I videotaped during the interview.
*Amendment C's Unintended Consequences, :21--Click
061001 KELO 1 Unintended.mov
*We Already Have Law Banning Gay Marriage, :25--Click
061001 KELO 2 Already have law.mov
*Let's Actually Discuss Amendment C, :33--Click
061001 KELO 3 More than soundbites.mov
*Conversations Like This Are Helpful to Voters, :30--Click
061001 KELO 4 conversations.mov