Republican South Dakota Governor Kristi
Noem on Thursday signed a bill into law that prohibits transgender
women and girls from playing sports on teams that match their gender
identity.
Sioux Falls television station KELO
reported that Noem signed Senate Bill 46 during a brief ceremony.
Senate Bill 46 is the first
anti-transgender bill signed into law in 2022.
The bill was authored and submitted to
the legislature by Noem. Last year, she signed two executive orders
that placed barriers around transgender athletes.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the
nation's largest LGBTQ rights advocate, denounced the legislation,
calling it blatant discrimination.
“Instead of focusing on the real
issues affecting the people of South Dakota, Gov. Noem and
anti-LGBTQ+ state legislators continue their relentless, baseless,
and patently discriminatory attacks against transgender kids.” said
Cathryn Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel at HRC.
“They show no shame. The governor’s eagerness to pass a bill
attacking transgender kids reveals that her national political
aspirations override any sense of responsibility she has to fulfill
her oath to protect South Dakotans.”
“Gov. Noem and South Dakota
legislators need to stop playing games with vulnerable children.
Transgender children are children. They deserve the ability to play
with their friends. This legislation isn’t solving an actual
problem that South Dakota was facing: it is discrimination, plain and
simple. Shame on Governor Noem,” she
said.
A second anti-transgender bill, House
Bill 1005, cleared the South Dakota House on Tuesday. The legislation
prohibits transgender students from using school restrooms and locker
rooms that match their gender identity.