Arrest Made In Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow Murder Case

There's some good news to report in the case concerning our murdered sister Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow.

The Sioux Falls, SD police arrested 25 year old Joshua Rayvon LeClaire on January 7 in the wake  of obtaining video surveillance footage of him leaving her home and using her cell phone on January 1.

The initial arrest of LeClaire after being confronted by SFPD officers and using a false name to avoid arrest was for marijuana possession and a parole violation.  The charges got upgraded after video surveillance evidence was obtained by SFPD that showed LeClaire leaving Wounded Arrow's apartment in the early morning hours of January 1.  

LeClaire admitted he was in Wounded Arrow's apartment in the early morning hours of January 1, and he was indicted by a grand jury and charged with one count of first and second degree murder, one count of false impersonation and one count of marijuana possession.

If LeClaire is convicted, he is facing the death penalty or life in prison without parole.   He is currently being held in the Minnehaha County Jail on a $2 million bord.    

Still keeping my eye on this case along with our South Dakota trans fam to see if Jamie Lee receives justice.

Rest In Power and Peace Jamie Lee

We haven't finished our first week of 2017, and we have now lost two trans people in the United States to anti-trans violence.

The latest trans person to unfortunately be killed in 2017 is 28 year old Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow of Sioux Falls, SD.   A neighbor smelled a strong odor coming from a nearby apartment at 8th Street and N. Cleveland Avenue on the east side of Sioux Falls Friday night.

When police arrived at that location, they discovered the body of Wounded Arrow.  It is presumed she was murdered on New Year's Day.

Jamie was new to the Sioux Falls area, and grew up on the Pine Ridge reservation. She was a proud Oglala Lakota trans woman working at a local call center and an active member of Sioux Falls Two-Spirit and Allies.

The Sioux Falls PD is considering her death a homicide, and they are looking for any information that will help them solve this case.

There will be a prayer service for Jamie Lee tonight at 6 PM tonight at the Cleveland Heights Apartments.

Rest in power and peace Jamie   We won't rest until the person who killed you is brought to justice.

SD Senate Committee Kills HB 1112

Lost in the euphoria over the failed attempt to override Gov. Daugaard's veto of HB 1008 by the GOP controlled South Dakota House was news on the senate side of the capitol building in Pierre that another unjust anti-trans bill has died.

The Senate Education Committee on a 5-2 vote killed HB 1112, which was another attack on our trans kids that would have if passed rescinded the pro-trans participation policy of the South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA)..

Trans students and allies like the SDHSAA, the ACLU-SD,  and others stood up for the huan rights of trans kids that wee under assault by the Concerned Transphobes Women Of America, the Family heritage Alliance and other assorted haters.

While this unjust bill is dead, the session still is in effect until March 31, so the South Dakota trans community and our allies will have to be vigilant for any attempts to resurrect HB 1112 as an amendment to another bill  or smoke it out of the committee by having it brought to the SD Senate floor by a senate floor vote.

But congrats once again to South Dakota for their so far successful efforts to beat back the attempts to legislate anti-trans bigotry aimed at our trans kids.

SD House Fails To Override HB 1008

If you thought the drama over HB 1008 was over when Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) vetoed the bill Tuesday, well it wasn't. 

Never underestimate the eager determination of Republicans and the outside groups pushing the unjust bills to oppress a downtrodden group.  They've made it clear that oppressing trans people is on the legislative agenda for their party in 2016. 

One of the reasons the anti-trans hate groups like the Liberty Counsel and the Alliance Defending Freedom chose South Dakota for this fight is because the Republicans in the Mount Rushmore State have had decades long supermajorities in both houses.  They have controlled the 70 member South Dakota House since 1976, and the 35 member South Dakota Senate since 1996.

The Republican controlled House attempted to jump start the process today of overriding the governor's veto.  They needed to get two-thirds of the House members to vote for the override resolution, and then do the same in the senate in order to successfully override Gov. Daugaard's veto and make HB 1008 law.

The vote to override in the SD House went 36-29 with five abstentions, which means it failed to get the necessary two-thirds support. to send it to the senate and turn this unjust bill attacking the humanity of SD trans kids into an unjust law.

Translation: HB 1008 is DEAD!

They failed thanks to the determined efforts of South Dakota based trans people, advocates at the local, state and national level and their allies. 

But there is still one more anti-trans bill, HB 1112 still percolating in the South Dakota legislature we have to keep our eyes on that is attacking our trans kids.

I hope the South Dakota legislature will see the wisdom of not attacking the humanity of trans kids and let that unjust bill suffer the same fate.

 

SD Gov. Daugaard's HB 1008 Veto Statement

Surprise, surprise!   South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) has vetoed the unjust HB 1008 bill that would have legislatively attacked trans kids in the state.

He did so on fiscal grounds, and note not a word written about how wrong and dehumanizing it was, but at this point I'll take the win..

Here's the veto statement.

***

Gov. Daugaard Vetoes HB 1008

PIERRE, S.D. – Gov. Dennis Daugaard has vetoed the following bill:

                    

HB 1008 – An Act to restrict access to certain restrooms and locker rooms in public schools.

For more information about this bill and other bills, visit legis.sd.gov.          

                                                            -30-

Note: A copy of the Governor’s veto message follows:

March 1, 2016

The Honorable Dean Wink

Speaker of the House of Representatives

500 East Capitol Avenue

Pierre, SD 57501

Dear Mr. Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives,

I respectfully return to you House Bill 1008, with my VETO.

House Bill 1008 does not address any pressing issue concerning the school districts of South Dakota.  As policymakers in South Dakota, we often recite that the best government is the government closest to the people.  Local school districts can, and have, made necessary restroom and locker room accommodations that serve the best interests of all students, regardless of biological sex or gender identity. 

This bill seeks to impose statewide standards on “every restroom, locker room, and shower room located in a public elementary or secondary school.”  It removes the ability of local school districts to determine the most appropriate accommodations for their individual students and replaces that flexibility with a state mandate.

If and when these rare situations arise, I believe local school officials are best positioned to address them.  Instead of encouraging local solutions, this bill broadly regulates in a manner that invites conflict and litigation, diverting energy and resources from the education of the children of this state.

Preserving local control is particularly important because this bill would place every school district in the difficult position of following state law while knowing it openly invites federal litigation.  Although there have been promises by an outside entity to provide legal defense to a school district, this provision is not memorialized in the bill.  Nor would such defense eliminate the need for school or state legal counsel, nor avoid expenses relating to expert witnesses, depositions and travel, or other defense costs.  Nor does the commitment extend to coverage over settlement or damage expenses.  This law will create a certain liability for school districts and the state in an area where no such liability exists today.

For these reasons, I oppose this bill and ask that you sustain my veto.

Respectfully submitted,

Dennis Daugaard

Will SD Gov. Dennis Daugaard Be A Human Rights Hero Or Zero Today?

Today South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard (R) has a decision to make in regards to the unjust HB 1008 that targets transgender kids in the Mount Rushmore state for oppression.

Today is the deadline for him to act on this unjust bill.  He can either be a human rights hero and veto the bill, or he can go down in history as a human rights oppressor and sign it.   He can also take the coward's way out and decline to sign the bill, which because it is March 1, would become law without his signature.

My money is on him doing the cowardly thing and letting the bill become law without his signature. You know I have zero confidence in any Republican doing the right thing for any marginalized groups when it comes to the human rights of people that aren't conservative white males.

Hope he shocks me, but we'll see what happens today.

TransGriot Update:  Gov Daugaard has VETOED HB 1008

Clock Ticking On Unjust HB 1008 Signing By SD Governor

The unjust HB 1008 has been sent to South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard's (R) desk for his signature, and he has until March 1 to act on it.

It was passed on a 20-15 vote out of the GOP controlled Senate and 58-10 a month ago in the GOP controlled house, and is now awaiting action from Governor Daugaard.

He can either: (A) veto it, (B) be a bold GOP trans oppressor and sign the unjust bill into law, or (C) take the political coward's way out and let the bill become law without his signature.

I'm expecting option C to happen.  I'm under no illusions that Republicans will do the right thing when it comes to the human rights of groups they don't like and wish to oppress.

The South Dakota trans community and their allies are hoping that their governor will do the right thing and veto the bill, and yesterday showed up in their state capitol of Pierre to demonstrate their opposition to the bill.   Petitions have also popped up with over 80,000 signatures and urging him to not sign the unjust law

Even Wayne Maines, the father of trans teen Nicole Maines who fought a successful protracted legal battle over bathroom access for his trans daughter, urged the governor in an open letter to veto the unjust legislation

“Transgender children across the nation go to school everyday afraid – a survey by the HRC Foundation found that three-quarters of transgender students feel unsafe in school settings. They sit in class and learn about powerful words, like courage, freedom and equality. Words that transgender people know well and dream will one day be true. Words that some of our leaders talk about but have forgotten how to use. If I could meet with you and your fellow governors, I would sit down with you and ask, ‘What are you afraid of?’ These kids just want to go to the bathroom, maybe visit with their friends to discuss their day, to laugh and just be kids. Why does it have to so hard? Their classmates do not care and they are not afraid. It is time to listen, watch and learn from them to understand that being transgender is not a big deal.”

A group of trans students had a closed door meeting with Governor Daugaard yesterday, and the trans community's most well known Republican in Caitlyn Jenner took to Twitter to urge the governor to do the right thing and veto it.

We'll see what happens over the next few days in Pierre if South Dakota decides to continue down the destructive road at the behest of out of state hate groups and their GOP controlled legislature to legislate oppression of trans people.