South Dakota Becomes First State to Pass Anti-Trans Bathroom Bill

In a proper display of ignorance, South Dakota has just become the first state to pass a bill effectively barring trans students from using bathrooms and facilities that match their gender identity–i.e., the correct bathrooms. There’s one last small hope for transgender students, and that hope lies in Governor Denis Daugaard’s veto power.

HB 1008 specifically states that “every restroom, locker room, and shower room located in a public elementary or secondary school that is designated for student use and is accessible by multiple students at the same time shall be designated for and used only by students of the same biological sex.” Of course, the bill goes on to define biological sex as “the physical condition of being male or female as determined by a person’s chromosomes and anatomy as identified at birth.”

This bill comes as a response to the federal government’s recent ruling that banning a transgender student from using the bathroom in line with their gender identity constitutes a form of sex discrimination under Title IX. Conservative lawmakers used the (tired, baseless) type of fear mongering that has plagued this argument for what feels like forever, saying that they don’t wish to expose their children to “the anatomy of a boy.”

Note that there has been one single recent instance of a male entering a women’s facility to “test” the new protections, but this instance has been largely viewed as a cis person protesting/demonstrating against the protections. Despite that, you can be sure that someone is going to use this event as a reason why this anti-trans bill should exist. Even then, the fact still stands: there have been more instances of Senators and government officials harassing and sexually assaulting people in bathrooms than there are instances of trans people doing the same–because there are zero instances of that ever happening.

Gov. Daugaard stands as trans students’ last hope, though it’s a slim hope at best. He’s gone on record before, saying he’s “never met a transgender person that I know of, and likely wouldn’t do so before deciding on the measure so as to ensure objectivity” in his decision. That makes absolutely no god damned sense, seeing as how you’re about to enact a law that affects a huge chunk of your population. This is some real transphobe logic at play, folks. Why wouldn’t you meet the people you’re about whom you’re going to make a decision? What’s the matter, would looking at trans people eye to eye make us all seem *gasp* human to you?

This bill stands as a testament to–and I feel like I’ve really been typing this a lot lately–how ignorant people are of the issues at play here. Trans people face a very real, already proven risk of discrimination, and thus often have to fear for their safety when anywhere at all ever. This bill protects against a phantom threat (sex offenders masquerading as the opposite gender) that doesn’t exist, and has never existed.

Rather than try to tend to the issues staring them in the face, the countless lives hurt and lost at the hands of discrimination and othering, these lawmakers are instead trying to protect people who aren’t really asking for protection. They’re trying to fight something that isn’t there while at the same time turning a blind eye to those who need help the most.

It’s really, extraordinarily heartbreaking, and now, one can only hope other states don’t follow suit.

(via BuzzFeed, image via Shutterstock/Joseph Sohm)

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