SD House lawmakers advance ban on trans bathroom policies

By STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota bill that would ban transgender students from using school bathrooms that match their gender identity has cleared its first hurdle in the Legislature. The House State Affairs committee sent the bill to a vote on the House floor. The Republican-controlled Legislature has taken up several bills aimed at transgender youth this year. Transgender advocates and organizations representing school districts say the bills will only increase the bullying and alienation trans students face. But many Republican lawmakers have shown a refusal to accept trans students’ gender identity. They instead insist that students should be assessed based on the biological sex on their birth certificate.