A bill which would prohibit transgender public school students from using restrooms based on the gender they identify with has passed in the South Dakota Senate.
Thenewcivilrightsmovement.com reports that the bill passed in South Dakota’s Senate with a vote of 20-15. It now goes on to the approval of Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
The bill, known as HB 1008, “would mandate that students use facilities corresponding with their 'physical condition of being male or female as determined by a person's chromosomes and anatomy as identified at birth,' not the gender with which they identify," according to the Huffington Post.
Gov. Daugaard “has said the measure seems like a good idea and plans to research the issue and listen to recorded testimony before making up his mind on whether to make the bill law.”
If the bill is approved by Daugaard, South Dakota would become the first state to make such a mandate.
There has been concern, especially among conservatives, that allowing a person who identifies as female, but is biologically male to use a women’s restroom could pose a danger to the other women using the restroom who are biologically female, since a sexual predator could pose as a transgender person.
However, many others condemned the recent bill as bigoted and a failure for equality.
“This bill hurts transgender students, takes away control from local schools, and doesn’t solve any problems. In fact, it does more harm than good to both trans kids and South Dakota’s reputation,” National Center for Transgender Equality Executive Director Mara Keisling said in a statement.
Many Twitter users also condemned the bill and began a campaign to tell Gov. Daugaard not to approve it.
Publication date: February 17, 2016
