Dozens of LGBT+ community members and their allies rallied at Main Street Square in opposition to HB 1259, brought by Aberdeen Republican Rep. Brandei Schaefbauer.
It requires people to use the restroom matching their biological sex at birth in public state-owned bathrooms. Schaefbauer said it’s a matter of safety.
"Men don't belong in women's private spaces," Schaefbauer said when defending the bill in debate on the House floor.
One speaker at Saturday’s rally was Jamie Giedd, vice president of the Liberty and Justice for all activist organization. If passed, she calls on Gov. Larry Rhoden to follow precedent.
“Gov. (Dennis) Daugaard vetoed that bill, and I sure hope our new governor is listening," Giedd said. "We want a community of love not hate. I want a legislature that doesn’t waste my money on unconstitutional laws.”
Daugaard vetoed a similar bathroom bill in 2016 after he sat with, read and listened to the lived experiences of gender nonconforming South Dakotans.
The bill is one of several aiming to legislate transgender rights introduced this session. Supporters say trans people shouldn't get "special treatment." In last week's legislative leadership press conference, House Majority Leader Rep. Scott Odenbach said these bills are part of an effort pushing back against “wholesale cultural revolution.”
Rapid City Democratic Rep. Nicole Uhre-Balk is deeply involved with the local LGBT+ community. She said much of the fear disappears when getting to know transgender people.
“My spouse is trans and got to go to the First Ladies spouse luncheon, got to meet people, and I think that was a great first step," Uhre-Balk said. "When you’re in rural South Dakota, and there’s not very many people who are trans, it’s hard to meet somebody and it’s hard to get to know people. That’s the thing – we just have to be inclusive, and open, and welcoming to people.”
That struck fellow organizer Ben Sherman with Liberty and Justice for All. He said one introduction can go a long way.
“Actually make an effort to understand," Sherman said. "Do that about trans people and queer people because there’s no harm in trying to understand something. You don’t have to agree with it, but make the effort to understand.”
The rally was briefly halted by police after Main Street Square asked protesters to leave the property, though no major incidents occurred, and the protest continued just past the property line.
HB 1259 is next scheduled to be heard in the Senate State Affairs committee.