Media Contact

Janna Farley, jfarley@aclu.org

January 31, 2022

Today, the House State Affairs Committee voted to advance House Bill 1005, legislation that would prohibit transgender students from using communal facilities – school bathrooms, locker rooms or sleeping rooms on overnight trips – that match their gender identity.

The ACLU of South Dakota opposes House Bill 1005. By singling out transgender youth like this, House Bill 1005 violates federal and constitutional law.

“This bill isn’t motivated by privacy concerns. It’s motivated by ignorance, misinformation and fear,” said Jett Jonelis, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “It doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights to share spaces with those who are different. Like previous efforts to expel people of color, people with disabilities and others from communal spaces, these arguments for privacy just mask a fear of difference. Eroding the fundamental rights of transgender people is dangerous for every one of us. When the government has the power to deny legal rights to one group, all Americans’ rights are severely threatened.”

As courts have repeatedly recognized, those who are uncomfortable with sharing such spaces can seek out private spaces for themselves rather than force transgender people to be stigmatized and isolated.

Last year, the Supreme Court declined to review lower court decisions in Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, ruling that the school board’s discriminatory restroom policy for transgender students violated Title IX and the Constitution. The Gloucester County School Board has been ordered to pay more $1.3 million in attorney’s fees and costs for the case.

South Dakota lawmakers attempted to pass similar legislation in 2016 with House Bill 1008, which Gov. Dennis Daugaard vetoed, and Senate Bill 115, which was withdrawn at its first hearing.

About the ACLU of South Dakota

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of South Dakota is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and Wyoming. The team in South Dakota is supported by staff in those states.

The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people.  In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit communities. The ACLU of South Dakota carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of South Dakota.

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