A South Dakota bathroom bill that would bar transgender students from shared bathrooms and locker rooms across the state's public schools was vetoed Tuesday by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.
"This bill broadly regulates in a manner that invites conflict and litigation," Daugaard wrote in a letter of explanation,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
In vetoing the bill, the Republican governor blocked something passed by a majority of his party members in the state legislature, which they control. They will now need a supermajority to override Daugaard's veto, which is unlikely.
Specifically, the bill stipulated that restrooms, locker rooms, and shower rooms located in a public school could be "used only by students of the same biological sex." Biological sex was defined in the bill as "male or female as determined by a person’s chromosomes and anatomy as identified at birth."
In South Dakota, the bill would see students identifying as transgender relegated to more private, single-occupancy restrooms including those used by school staff and faculty.
At least a dozen states are considering similar bills, and the governor's veto could be a leading indicator of things to come.
Many elected representatives are worried that enacting such bathroom bills could put states in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Such a violation could, in turn, lead to a loss of federal dollars.
Cathryn Oakley, senior legislative counsel with the LGBT advocate group Human Rights Campaign, said that South Dakota's bill "is radical, and it is very harmful, and frankly out of step with the trajectory the country is on."
Elsewhere,
one column writer at USA Today said that the South Dakota bill has brought to light another issue.
"Make no mistake, the gay community needs to file for divorce with the trans community," wrote Joseph R. Murray II.
"They are no longer working toward the same goals, and South Dakota is Exhibit A. The issues facing the transgender community today are wholly different and separate from those facing the gay community."