New York, NY – The Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund applauds South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard for vetoing a bill that would have singled out transgender students for discrimination by prohibiting them from using bathrooms and locker rooms that match who they are as boys and girls. In February, South Dakota lawmakers passed House Bill 1008. The bill would have restricted facility access to students of the “same biological sex,” and defined that to mean “the physical condition of being male or female as determined by a person’s chromosomes and identified at birth by a person’s anatomy.”

Last week the governor met with transgender students who explained how harmful it would be to their health and well being to deny them use of bathrooms and locker rooms consistent with who they are. Thousands of activists across the nation joined them in urging the Governor to reject the legislation. Today the Governor did just that. Had the bill been enacted, it would have been the first law in the nation targeting transgender students for bias. … More TLDEF Applauds SD Governor for Vetoing Bill That Targeted Transgender Students for Discrimination