South Dakota, Mississippi pass laws restricting men from entering women's restrooms, locker rooms
Mississippi and South Dakota recently passed laws prohibiting men from entering private spaces reserved for women, including restrooms, locker rooms and sleeping quarters.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden signed House Bill 1259 into law last Friday, a measure that says “a male may not enter a changing room or restroom designated exclusively for females” and “a female may not enter a changing room or restroom designated exclusively for males.”
The new law also requires public schools and other state-owned properties to “take reasonable steps to provide individuals with privacy in changing rooms, restrooms, and sleeping quarters by designating each as available for use exclusively by female students or for use exclusively by male students.”
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HB 1259 exempts from its rules anyone “who accompanies a child under the age of [10], if the individual is the child's parent or lawful chaperone,” “who accompanies another individual requiring assistance because of age or a disability,” and people acting in official capacities, such as police, firefighters and custodians.
Samantha Chapman, advocacy manager with the ACLU of South Dakota, released a statement denouncing HB 1259, claiming that “Gov. Rhoden is putting vulnerable trans youth at risk for abuse and harassment.”
“This is a cruel invasion of students’ rights to privacy, which could result in unwarranted governmental disclosures of private, personal information,” stated Chapman.
“Attacks on trans rights is an attack on people — their lives, their rights and their freedom to be. These partisan attempts to police bodies so they might adhere to one person’s belief system is not just wrong, it's unlawful.”
Sara Beth Nolan, legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, celebrated the law's passage, saying in a statement that it “ensures that girls’ spaces in public schools and public buildings are not open to men and prioritizes privacy and safety for every South Dakota girl.”
“Women and girls should not be forced to sacrifice their privacy and safety to activists pushing gender ideology. Allowing men to invade girls’ spaces — including locker rooms, sleeping areas, or restrooms — rips away girls’ spaces,” Nolan said.
“ADF commends Gov. Rhoden and Rep. Brandei Schaefbauer for their leadership on HB 1259. We also thank South Dakota Family Voice for its unwavering commitment to protecting women and girls across the state.”
Last Thursday, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed House Bill 188, also known as the Dignity and Safety for Incarcerated Women Act, which prohibits men from using restrooms and changing rooms designated for women.
“A restroom or changing room within a correctional facility that is designated for one sex shall be used only by members of that sex. No incarcerated individual shall enter a restroom or changing room that is designated for one sex unless he or she is a member of that sex,” reads the new law, in part.
“A sleeping quarter within a correctional facility that is designated for one sex shall be used only by members of that sex. No incarcerated individual shall be housed in a sleeping quarter that is designated for one sex unless he or she is a member of that sex.”
Shortly after being sworn into office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that rejected “gender ideology extremism” and stated that it was “the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”
The Trump administration has also called on various federally-funded entities to halt providing so-called “gender-affirming care” procedures, such as irreversible sex-change surgeries or prescribing puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to youth exhibiting confusion about their sex.
Last month, the National Collegiate Athletics Association released a new policy that bans trans-identified male athletes from competing in women's sports.
