South Dakota may regulate transgender students’ bathroom use

By: 9 years ago

In this Jan. 29, 2016 photo, Thomas Lewis, an 18-year-old transgender student at Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls, S.D., speaks during a press conference in Sioux Falls against legislation that groups have said would discriminate against transgender people. South Dakota would be the first state in the U.S. to approve a law requiring transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their sex at birth if the governor signs a bill passed Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2016, by the state Senate. Lewis said the Legislature’s passage of the bill is “shocking. Argus Leader via AP

PIERRE, South Dakota, United States—South Dakota would be the first state in the U.S. to approve a law requiring transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their sex at birth if the governor signs a bill passed Tuesday by the state Senate.

The Senate voted 20-15 to send the bill to Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard, who last week said he’d need to study it more before making a decision.

Advocates say the bill is meant to protect the privacy of students, but opponents say it discriminates against vulnerable adolescents.

Under the plan, schools would have to provide a “reasonable accommodation” for transgender students, such as a single-occupancy bathroom or the “controlled use” of a staff-designated restroom, locker room or shower room.

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota and Human Rights Campaign have called on Daugaard to veto the legislation.

Supporters say South Dakota’s plan is a response to changes in the Obama administration’s interpretation of the federal Title IX anti-discrimination law related to education. Federal officials have said that barring students from restrooms that match their gender identity is prohibited under Title IX

Transgender advocates have criticized comments made by some lawmakers about transgender people.

“I’m sorry if you’re so twisted you don’t know who you are,” Republican Sen. David Omdahl said at a recent event when asked about the bill. “I’m telling you right now, it’s about protecting the kids, and I don’t even understand where our society is these days.”

Several states have looked at addressing gender and public facilities in the past several years, but South Dakota would be the first state to put such a measure into law, said Joellen Kralik, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Legislature’s passage of the bill is “shocking,” said Thomas Lewis, a transgender student in Sioux Falls, the state’s most populous city. He plans to attend college in Minnesota. “I am so glad to be leaving soon. I can escape the oppression that my home state wants to put on me.”