Couple sues backward state as Brookings County embraces marriage equality

At a first-floor customer service window at the Register of Deeds office, Nancy Robrahn and Jennie Rosenkranz, who have been together for more than 30 years, were denied a marriage license application. A Pew Research Center poll released this week stated that over 60 percent of Republicans under the age of 30 support gay marriage, while 30 percent of Republicans between 50 and 64 would like to see gays and lesbians have the right to marry. About 77 percent of Democrats under 30 favor gay marriage; two-thirds of Democrats between 50 and 64 favor it. [Rapid City couple prepares to challenge same-sex marriage ban]

I was asked what resource I would recommend for non-gay Christians who want to understand the marriage debate.... http://t.co/1nFTrjuaKW
— D Gregory Smith (@Dgsma) March 13, 2014

The Peoples Republic of Brookings is not just home to South Dakota's most obese GOP blogger.

Some Brookings County residents have been contacting their commissioners about a new policy that extends marriage-based benefits to county employees and their same-sex spouses if they have been legally married in a jurisdiction that permits same-sex marriage. Commissioners created the policy without discussion Dec. 31 but brought it up Tuesday to say they had no choice in the matter. “If we had not acted on this, we would have set the county up for a huge liability, should a suit arise,” said Stephne Miller, commissioner. [County clarifies policy on same-sex marriage benefits, Brookings Register]

Businesses should be allowed to ban obese people: airlines and taxi services should charge more for fat people. Scales and Body Mass Index stations should be outside stores where food is sold. Businesses with buffets should have scales at the door and anyone with a BMI over 23 will pay an additional $1.00 for every whole number above that. Food stores should have scales at tills that add surcharges according to BMIs. Gas stations should have scales that determine price per gallon according to BMI unless you have documentation in your debit/credit card updated by your doctor that you're on a weight reduction regimen.

These bills remind me of the infamous Bill Napoli rape rant.

Rep. Steve Hickey, Republican of Sioux Falls, is one of two primary sponsors of a bill that would allow any person or business to “decline to provide certain wedding services or goods due to the free exercise of religion.” State Sen. Angie Buhl O’Donnell noted to the Argus Leader that clergy are already protected from participating in wedding ceremonies to which they have religious objections. She called Hickey’s bill is “mean-spirited.” [Miranda Blue, Sponsor of South Dakota Anti-Gay Bill Warns Gay Rights Taking Us 'Down The Road of Iran']

Planned for 2015, the work will include widening a part of the roadway to include new turn lanes, but another proposed change nearer the Highway 14 – I-29 interchange would result in the creation of the very first roundabouts ever built on a state-controlled highway. [Brookings Register]