South Dakota is slated to become the first U.S. state to enact a law that would require transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms according to their "chromosomes and anatomy." The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday, and will be made into law once Governor Dennis Daugaard signs it.
The senate voted 20-15 in favor of the bill. Under the so-called "Bathroom Bill", transgender students are required to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to their gender at birth and not the gender they currently identify with.
The bill also obliges schools to provide "reasonable" accommodations for transgender students such as a single-occupancy restroom, a unisex restroom. Regulations that would control the use of these facilities are also being suggested.
"This bill is about protecting young children who are too innocent ... to understand the complexity of life," Republican Senator David Omdahl said, via Reuters.
The bill, however, is drawing flak from the LGBT community. Critics say the measures expose LGBT students to humiliation and bullying by segregating them and treating them differently.
"This bill causes actual harm to transgender students, an already vulnerable population," said Libby Skarin, ACLU's South Dakota policy director. "It singles out and targets them and attempts to isolate them, in a way that is really truly hurtful and discriminatory."
Both the Department of Justice and the Department of Education agree that Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, schools must give transgender students unrestricted access to bathrooms and locker rooms that match their current gender identity and preference.
According to The Guardian, this ruling does not go unprecedented. In November, the Education Department threated the school district of Palatine, Illinois with potential loss of $6 million in federal funds if it prohibited a transgender girl from using the girls' locker rooms.
A surge of religious freedom bills in South Dakota are being perceived as discriminatory attacks against LGBT people. Majority of the bills are premised on religious belief or moral convictions and are largely prejudiced towards the rights and privileges of the LGBT community.
A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union said that housing or businesses could condemn LGBT people and still keep their license under the protection of such laws.
