Taking aim at drag shows, South Dakota Board of Regents pass 'minors on campus' policy
A new policy regarding minors’ access to South Dakota’s six public college campuses passed unanimously during the South Dakota Board of Regents’ meeting Tuesday morning.
Requests for the policy were sparked by some people, including lawmakers, who were concerned minors were welcomed at a student-led drag show at South Dakota State University in November.
The event, sponsored by the SDSU Gender and Sexualities Alliance student group, was billed on the university website as family-friendly, to the consternation of some conservative lawmakers who pledged to bring bills limiting similar events in the future and limiting minors from being involved.
More: South Dakota Board of Regents' new 'minors on campus' passes first reading
Two different bills taking aim at preventing such events from ever happening again on state-funded facilities failed during this year’s legislative session.
In advance of the session, though, the SDBOR announced a closed, remote special meeting in December in which Regents discussed the recent drag show, placed a moratorium on minors’ attendance of campus events for the time being and directed the SDBOR central office to come up with a “minors on campus” policy. That policy passed Tuesday.
SDSU President Barry Dunn said during Tuesday’s meeting the university had a “great deal of input” into the issue, and said he feels confident this will help the university “manage the challenges we faced last fall.”
South Dakota Mines President Jim Rankin also said there were a lot of comments on campus about the issue and appreciates that his and others’ suggestions on the policy were “taken to heart.”
Board President Tim Rave said coming up with the policy was a “collaborative process for an issue bubbling up this (past) fall” and that the board “threaded the needle on state statute and potential First Amendment challenges.” Rave also said these issues can evolve.
“We’ll see what happens next legislative session," he said.
More: South Dakota lawmakers push for 2 bills banning 'lewd' school events as reaction to SDSU drag show
Nathan Lukkes, current general counsel and soon-to-be executive director of the board, said the policy was “positively received” among stakeholders and a number of changes to the policy from the first reading in March to now came as a result of conversations with Gov. Kristi Noem’s office.
Any student organizations to host an event on campus during the summer or next fall can organize their events through the normal campus process, Lukkes said, noting event promotions and administration must include content descriptors and university authorization.
USD student organization reports they've already seen effects from this policy
Spectrum: Gender and Sexuality Alliance, a student organization at the University of South Dakota, said in a statement last month that the Regents’ new policies, including one requiring all student organization events to be submitted to the SDBOR for approval, have directly affected the group’s events and impeded their ability to fundraise.
Two weeks after Spectrum submitted event plans for the spring semester, all were approved except the annual spring professional drag show, which was approved later on March 10, before the start of spring break and 19 days before the event was set to take place, “crippling” the organization’s ability to properly host, Spectrum leaders said.
The student group has hosted these drag shows at least once each semester since 1991, the organization stated. With a limited time to advertise the event and sell tickets, and with the new “minors on campus” policy requiring refunds to children and their parents, the event sold 175 tickets, which is 75 fewer tickets than the average drag show attendance, Spectrum stated.
The policies and rhetoric have also diminished the sense of safety on campus for LGBTQ+ members of the USD community, Spectrum members wrote, calling the SDBOR’s move “passive discrimination.”
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota Board of Regents finalize 'minors on campus' policy
