Advocates say misinformation spread among lawmakers could have played a role in the passage of House Bill 1080 – a bill prohibiting certain medical procedures for transgender youth.
Links have been found between materials referenced by lawmakers and organizations classified as anti-LGBT+ “hate groups."
The two organizations in question, Alliance Defending Freedom and the American College of Pediatrics, were deemed hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Samantha Chapman is advocacy manager with the ACLU of South Dakota. She said materials from these groups have faced steep criticism.
“What they have instead are articles and studies that they have published that are not peer-reviewed, they’ve been rejected from scientific journals," Chapman said. "They are using these and citing them as they are talking to legislators and lawmakers to push forth their agenda demonizing the LGBTQ and Two Spirit community.”
Chapman said that material still made its way to Pierre.
“Several of the people who testified in Pierre this session on HB 1080, which was our gender-affirming care ban, have connections to either Alliance Defending Freedom or the American College of Pediatrics, and several more of them are represented in leaked emails from Rep. Fred Deutsch,” Chapman said.
Deutsch was unable to be reached for comment.
Chapman said this is part of a wider push to enact anti-LGBT+ legislation.
“What we got were people who were peddling around junk science based on an agenda they were promoting nationwide, Chapman said. "It’s not aimed to solve any problems here in South Dakota or treat South Dakota patients or their families. It’s purely an agenda-driven approach that’s interfering with our state legislative process.”
HB 1080, which prohibits gender-affirming treatment options for minors, was ultimately signed into law by Noem.
