UPDATED::South Dakota Bill on Transgender Students’ Bathroom Access Draws Ire - The New York Times

The veto over-ride was unsuccessful, South Dakota House fails to override transgender bill veto 

UPDATE:: South Dakota governor vetoes law on transgender bathrooms

South Dakota‘s governor vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have made the state the first in the U.S. to approve a law requiring transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that match their sex at birth.

Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard, who initially reacted positively to the proposal but said he needed to research the issue, rejected the bill after the American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign insisted it was discriminatory.

In his veto message, Daugaard said the bill “does not address any pressing issue” and that such decisions were best left to local school officials. He also noted that signing the bill could create costly liability issues for schools and the state. The ACLU had promised to encourage legal action if the bill became law.
,,,
Daugaard initially offered a positive reaction to South Dakota‘s proposal, but said he wanted to listen to testimony before making a decision. Last week, he met with three transgender individuals and heard their personal stories; before the meeting, the governor said he had never knowingly met a transgender person.

Opponents said the legislation an attack on vulnerable transgender students that would further marginalize them at school. They also criticized comments made by some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. David Omdahl.

“I’m sorry if you’re so twisted you don’t know who you are,” Omdahl said when asked about the bill last month.

“I’m telling you right now, it’s about protecting the kids, and I don’t even understand where our society is these days.”

__
Proponents of the legislation say it would help protect children and ensure everyone’s privacy, but its passage has inserted South Dakota into the center of a national debate about transgender rights and access to restrooms and locker rooms.

It is among a number of bills addressing the rights of transgender people that are being pushed by conservative legislators in this state and others. Another South Dakota bill, which was shelved this week, would have required public agencies to accept only information on birth certificates, effectively preventing legal recognition of sex changes.

Mr. Lewis said the bathroom legislation, which was passed by the South Dakota Legislature last week, “creates more stigma,” increases the risk of bullying and sends a message to transgender students: “You’re so different, in a bad way, that you need your own bathroom, your own locker room, your own shower situation.”

,,,
The South Dakota legislation would seem to put the state in conflict with the Obama administration’s interpretation of the federal Title IX law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity that receives federal funds. Mr. Lewis said last week that he would probably continue to use the men’s restroom at school even if Mr. Daugaard signed the bill. Even supporters of the legislation acknowledge that a school district will probably be sued if it becomes law.

South Dakota Bill on Transgender Students’ Bathroom Access Draws Ire - The New York Times

South Dakota Lawmakers Double Down on Anti-LGBT Discrimination | Advocate.com

South Dakota is making a name for itself as what may be America’s most anti-LGBT state. The Senate Education Committee today passed a new bathroom bill that would adversely impact transgender students. But that was just one measure in a week full of anti-LGBT actions by state lawmakers.

On Monday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Bill 1107, which the Human Rights Campaign called “extreme” legislation that if signed into law would authorize recipients of taxpayer funds to discriminate against same-sex couples, transgender people, and single mothers. Specifically, it would prevent the state from taking any punitive action against any entity that discriminates because of religious beliefs about sexuality, gender, and marriage.

The bill, titled “An Act to ensure government nondiscrimination in matters of religious beliefs and moral convictions,”was “disguised as an attempt to protect religious beliefs,” according to HRC.

“Anti-equality lawmakers in the South Dakota House of Representatives are sending a shameful message of intolerance and discrimination in the Mount Rushmore State,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow in a statement on HRC’s website.
,,,
Also Monday, a Republican state senator told constituents at a forum in Sioux Falls he considered trans people to be “psychologically damaged,” according to Fusion. Sen. David Omdahl spoke in support of the bill to “restrict access to certain restrooms and locker rooms in public schools” so that trans students would not be allowed to use the facilities that match their gender identity.

“I’m sorry if you’re so twisted you don’t even know who you are,” he said, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, “A lot of people are — and I’m telling you right now, it’s about protecting the kids.”

That bill, House Bill 1008, was denounced by HRC as “a vehemently discriminatory bill that would make the state the first in the nation to pass a law attacking transgender children.”

South Dakota Lawmakers Double Down on Anti-LGBT Discrimination | Advocate.com