In South Dakota, a new law will soon regulate the use of communal facilities by transgender individuals in public schools and state-owned buildings, taking effect on July 1. Republican Governor Larry Rhoden approved bill HB 1259, which restricts transgender people from using restrooms and changing rooms that match their gender identity. This legislation further provides individuals who encounter a transgender person in such facilities the option to pursue declaratory and injunctive relief if the institution has not taken adequate measures to prevent the use by the transgender person.
Governor Rhoden remarked that South Dakota represents a state where “common-sense values remain common,” asserting that this bill safeguards “freedom from the ‘woke’ agenda” witnessed elsewhere. Notably, this marks the inaugural instance that South Dakota has implemented a statewide law limiting restroom access for transgender individuals, propelled by the predominantly conservative legislative body this session. A similar proposal cleared both legislative chambers back in 2016 but was vetoed by then-Governor Dennis Daugaard.
Samantha Chapman, who serves as an advocacy manager at the ACLU of South Dakota, indicated that the organization is considering its legal options in response to the law. Chapman expressed, “This law is incredibly painful,” and described feelings of dismay and heartbreak at Governor Rhoden’s decision to endorse the proposal into law.
With this enactment, South Dakota becomes at least the 13th state to implement such a restriction on transgender girls and women from using facilities designated for girls and women in public schools, as well as potentially in other governmental settings. Just days prior, a similar bill made its way to the governor’s desk in Tennessee, with another pending approval in Montana.
While legal battles challenge most bans enacted in other states, many cases have not yet reached a conclusion. Rulings have overturned certain school district-level bathroom prohibitions nationwide. However, this week a federal appeals court unanimously permitted Idaho’s ban to remain operational as the case goes through judicial review.
Since resuming office in January, former President Donald Trump issued a sequence of executive orders aimed at reducing the rights of transgender individuals. Efforts by President Joe Biden’s administration aimed to extend federal gender discrimination protections at educational institutions to encompass gender identity; however, the courts have halted these efforts.