Life

South Dakota passes two “shameful” and “discriminatory” anti-trans bills

By Conor Clark

3rd February 2022

Henry Mills

South Dakota lawmakers passed two anti-trans bills, making it the first state to get legislation of this kind to a governor’s desk in 2022.

The state’s House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 46 (SB 46) on 1 February, which in effect is a sports ban that will prevent trans students from taking part in teams that align with their gender identity.

SB 46 faced little opposition, as the Argus Leader reported it passed by 50 votes to 17.

According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem authored and submitted the bill to the legislature.

During the House State Affairs Committee’s debate on SB 46 towards the end of January, Noem’s Chief of Staff Mark Miller compared transgender children to terrorists.

“By putting it in law, we are ensuring that what we’re seeing all over the country does not happen in South Dakota,” he stated. “It’s sort of like terrorism, you want to keep it over there, not let it get to here.”

On the same day, lawmakers also passed House Bill 1005 (HB 1005) which essentially blocks young trans people from using facilities at school that align with their gender identity, including changing rooms, bathrooms and where they sleep on overnight trips.

HB 1005 will now move to the Senate for debate after being passed by 38 to 29 votes in the House.

“The votes today by House lawmakers are shameful,” said Jett Jonelis, Advocacy Manager at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota. “Senate Bill 46 and House Bill 1005 reinforce the incorrect notion that transgender students are not entitled to the same dignity and respect as all students.”

Cathryn Oakley, the HRC’s State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel, added that “legislation attacking transgender kids reveals their backwards priorities and that Noem’s national political aspirations override any sense of responsibility she has to fulfill her oath to protect South Dakotans.”

They further explained: “South Dakota legislators have not pointed to an example of any problem worth legislating against in the state, because — simply put — no such problem exists, not in South Dakota or in any of the states that have passed discriminatory anti-transgender legislations.”

The bills follow 2021 becoming the deadliest year on record for trans people in America.

At least 53 transgender or gender non-conforming people were fatally shot or killed by other violent means – with the actual number expected to be far higher as these stories often go misreported or unreported entirely.

According to the HRC, in 2020 approximately seven in ten transgender and gender non-conforming people killed as a result of fatal violence were killed by an acquaintance, friend, family member or intimate partner.