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Who We Are 

Our founders Monique "Muffie" Mousseau and Felipa De Leon have dedicated their lives through education and community activism, from building awareness regarding current laws and accepted practices within the tribal nation and state working with local, county, state, tribal, and national law enforcement to address hate crimes, while developing programs and curriculums for schools and educators to engage our youth on the experiences and challenges of being Native Two-Spirit LGBTQ. 

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The couple's journey begin in May of 2019 when they had to address the realities of their own tribe’s non-existing laws of protection or rights to marriage equality. On July 8, 2019, ordinance #19-24 was enacted recognizing Marriage Equality for the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe, also, on September 4, 2019 ordinance #19-37 was enacted, amending the Hate Crime Law to include gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.

 

These critical ordinances provide protections for all Two Spirit LGBTQ.

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Background

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The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, but not for the 573 federally recognized tribes.  “Tribes have the right to make the decision themselves,” said Marcia Zug, a professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law who specializes in family and federal Indian law.

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“Muffie” and Felipa grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation reservation, but found they could not be married there in 2015. The couple received a license in Pennington County and wed at a group ceremony at Mount Rushmore.

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The two women began petitioning for changes in the reservation’s law, resulting in the passage of same-sex marriage.

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“We are looking out for future generations, for protections and for equality,” Mousseau told the Rapid City Journal. “These foundations of laws have to be in place because we have grandkids. And that next generation coming up, we don’t want them experiencing the same (gay) bashing, we don’t want them to get to a point where somebody says a bad word to them because they like somebody of the same sex and they hang themselves. We don’t want that.”

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Mousseau and De Leon live in Rapid City, but some of their children and  grandchildren live on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

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Mission

To advance social and legal equality. This includes environmental action at the foundation of building a healthy and equitable life for all.

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Our Mission in Action

  • Through cultural and educational interaction with all indigenous tribes, cities, counties, states, and schools.

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  • Through multi media interviews and presentations

 

  •  Through grassroots organizational training and public events

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Vision

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Our vision is to see a society, both within and beyond Indian country that values all people equally.

We see the land we live on as our precious home, our mother – Unci Maka, which requires protection and is not merely a resource to exploit. We envision all living beings as our relatives, Mitakyue oyasin.

 

We bring this vision to our tribal communities, our local and national governments.

We do this through education, consultation, and community outreach. We work to make laws that include equality for all and that enact justice for hate crimes. We work  through direct actions with the environment to be sure our lands and water are clean and that our air is pure for ourselves and our future generations.

Our Core Values 

As Lakota we strive to be Wo Lakota which means walking the Lakota Sacred way of life. It embodies the qualities of Humility, Perseverance, Respect, Honor, Love, Sacrifice, Truth, Compassion, Bravery, Fortitude, Generosity and Wisdom. 

Meet the Team

 

"We are advocates/activists to integrate the acceptance of ALL.  We do this for our community, all people, and future generations." 
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