S.D. Governor Hands Victory to Transgender Students, Vetoes Controversial Bathroom Bill
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Updated March 1: South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed legislation late Tuesday afternoon that would have created the first state law defining which bathrooms and locker rooms transgender students should be allowed to use. In making his decision, the governor said the bill did not address a pressing concern in South Dakota school districts and could spark lawsuits from civil rights activists.
鈥淭his bill would place every school district in the difficult position of following state law while knowing it openly invites federal litigation,鈥� Daugaard . He also cited local autonomy, noting that school districts are already capable of making restroom accommodations that serve the best interest of their students, 鈥渞egardless of biological sex or gender identity.鈥�
Thank you for standing up for fairness !
鈥� Equality Federation (@EqualityFed)
Background on South Dakota鈥檚 controversial legislation…
It鈥檚 decision time for Dennis Daugaard, the governor of South Dakota: Where should the state鈥檚 transgender students go to the bathroom?
The Republican governor is up against a hard to sign or veto a historic and highly controversial bill that will require students to use the school bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender at birth, as opposed to their gender identity. Students would be required to submit a request to school officials for a 鈥渞easonable accommodation鈥� if they鈥檙e uncomfortable using facilities that correspond with their birth gender.
If the governor chooses not to act by end of day Tuesday, the legislation automatically becomes law.
鈥淚 have until Tuesday and I鈥檒l get it done by Tuesday,鈥� the Daugaard saying Thursday. 鈥淐ertainly I want to do it as quickly as possible, but it鈥檚 more important to do it well.鈥�
The bathroom rights of transgender people have been a contentious issue for years, and K-12 students have largely been at the center of the national debate. Save for a veto, South Dakota will become the first state with a law defining where transgender students are allowed to use the restroom. (Read The 74鈥檚 recent series: A new push to protect transgender students in school)
Rep. Fred Deutsch, the South Dakota Republican who originally , told the New York Times he wrote the bill in order to 鈥減rotect the innocence of children.鈥� But Thomas Lewis, a high school senior in Sioux Falls, said the legislation 鈥渃reates more stigma鈥� around transgender issues. It also sends a foul message to transgender students, he said.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e so different, in a bad way, that you need your own bathroom, your own locker room, your own shower situation,鈥� Lewis said.
Ashley Joubert-Gaddis, the director of operations at the South Dakota advocacy group The Center for Equity, told USA Today the from legislators who are angry over last year鈥檚 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states.
Having previously said that he had never met a transgender person, with transgender rights advocates last week who said they hoped to persuade him to use his veto authority. The opportunity, the governor said, 鈥渉elped me see things through their eyes a little bit and understand their perspective.鈥�
Daugaard鈥檚 experiences with transgender people don鈥檛 differ much from most Americans. In fact, 76 percent of Americans say they do not personally know anybody who identifies as transgender, according to from the Huffington Post and YouGov. Additionally, those polled narrowly opposed rules that would allow transgender people to use public restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identities; 37% said transgender people should be allowed to use facilities that differ from their birth gender, while 38% said they should not be given access. Also revealing: One in four people surveyed said they weren鈥檛 sure.
(Related: One mother鈥檚 story of how school bullies and state laws changed the way she saw her transgender child)
Though South Dakota is the first to pass a bill defining transgender students鈥� bathroom access, they鈥檙e just one in considering similar rules. On the other side of the debate are 16聽state legislatures 鈥� from Kansas to Pennsylvania 鈥� now considering bills to prevent discrimination based on both sexual orientation and gender identity. In 17 states, such laws already exist.
These new bills follow first-of-their-kind sanctions from the U.S. Department of Education, which reached a settlement last December with an Illinois school district over granting access to locker room facilities to a transgender student. In that case, the Education Department said the school district had violated Title IX, a federal law barring sex discrimination in education, when it denied the student, who identified as female, access to the girls鈥� locker room.
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