South Dakota HB 1259 Could Put Trans People In ‘Solitary’

South Dakota lawmakers are debating on House Bill 1259 (HB 1259) to, “prohibit unauthorized access to certain multi-occupancy rooms and to provide a penalty therefor.” This is a bathroom bill that seeks to stop trans people from being able to use the restroom in which they feel most comfortable in. The republicans who introduced the bill however, are either unaware or uncaring about the consequences if this bill were to be passed, nor are they knowledgeable about how this bill would be enforced.

HB 1259 is meant to mandate that all changing rooms, locker rooms, and restrooms in state-run facilities be limited to members of the same “biological sex.” It would only allow for accommodations for trans students who are unwilling to use the restroom that matches the sex they were assigned at birth, thought there is no plan that states how these ‘accommodations’ would be given.

Republican state representative, Brandei Schaefbauer is the bill’s lead sponsor and claims that the bill is a response to the, “atmosphere of social confusion” that has “destroyed our abilities for logic and common sense.” I have often seen the excuse of ‘reducing confusion’ or ‘making things easier to understand’ when putting restrictions on what trans people are doing with their bodies. But trans people and their allies are not confused at all. Having things like gender neutral bathrooms makes it so there are no issues about who the bathroom is for, because they are for everyone. Only the transphobes are concerned with what sex people were born as and what genitalia they have when they go to the restroom.

There were other critiques of the bill such as the definition of a locker room or a restroom brought up by state representative Erin Healy. The definition in HB 1259 is listed as a a facility “enclosed by means of floor-to-ceiling walls” and has “a secure lock that prevents entry by another individual while the room is in use.” Healy questioned how this would apply to people in prisons and jails who aren’t allowed to have locks. Schaefbauer responded saying that the incarcerated trans people would be placed in solitary confinement. She would rather trans people be put through what can be considered psychological torture instead of letting them just use the restroom where they feel comfortable.

Healy spoke with Them and said that the bill is “disgusting.” She also stated that her republican lawmakers, “have made it really clear that this isn’t about safety. This is about hate. It’s about control. It’s about weaponizing the existence of a marginalized group to score political points.” Schaefbauer claims that she brought the bill up because, “Men don’t belong in women’s private spaces,” but we all know that’s not what this is about. Like Healy said, this is about controlling marginalized groups that do not fit into the white supremacist mold that lawmakers like Schaefbauer want everyone to fit in to.

Libby Skarin, executive director for the ACLU of South Dakota, noted to Them that, “The sponsor does not have an understanding of how these policies work and seems to be uninterested in the nuances of how they are going to apply to people. The real-world consequences of a bill like this is that it would be extremely detrimental to trans people and to some of the most vulnerable trans folks. It’s clear that the sponsor of this bill either doesn’t understand that or doesn’t care.” We can see this also being the case for other republican-introduced reactions that impacted an enormous range of people and had to be pushed back on by multiple parties. This current administration and its supporters are making broad strokes in hopes of snuffing out as many marginalized groups at once while not realizing or not caring that they are not only causing more harm than good, but also loosing the support of their constituents and followers along the way.