South Dakota Gov. Daugaard to meet with transgender students
Governor to meet with local transgender individuals before deciding whether or not to veto bill
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) will meet with a group of transgender students before deciding whether to sign or veto a bill that would restrict them to using only the bathrooms or changing facilities of their assigned sex at birth, the Argus-Leader reports.
The Center for Equality, an LGBT community center in Pierre, had previously written to the governor while the legislature was debating the bill. When asked at a press conference last Thursday about the legislation, Daugaard said he had never met a transgender person, at least that he was aware of. He also said that he didn’t see a problem with not having met a transgender person before signing a bill that impacted them.
“I generally haven’t met with proponents or opponents of other bills,” Daugaard said. “I want to try and be objective to both sides, and I think having that separation that you gain through archived testimony helps you be a little bit more objective and not let emotion sway you.”
The Center for Equality asked Daugaard to visit with members of South Dakota’s transgender community.
“If enacted, South Dakota would become the first state to require separate bathroom, locker room and shower facility accommodations for transgender students in public school,” their letter reads. “Transgender individuals have been part of society and communities across South Dakota our whole lives…. They seek to live their lives free of scrutiny or being stigmatized, especially by our legislature…. There is too much at stake to not have an understanding of what it means to be transgender and how these bills will affect their daily lives.”
Daugaard’s office initially — and erroneously — declined the group’s invitation. A spokeswoman for Daugaard later clarified that the governor will meet with the transgender individuals as early as Thursday. He will also meet with the legislative sponsors of the bill to seek opinions from all parties involved. He will then have the remainder of four business days to approve or veto the measure before it becomes law.
Ashley Joubert-Gaddis, director of operations for the Center for Equality, expressed hope that she and the transgender group could put a human face on the issue during their meeting with Daugaard.
“Knowledge is power, and we hope that by learning about their experiences, the daily challenges they face, and the damage this bill will inflict on their lives, Gov. Daugaard will show true leadership and reject this measure,” Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. “History has never looked kindly upon those who attack the basic civil rights of their fellow Americans, and history will not treat kindly those who support this discriminatory measure.”
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